


I'm with you no matter what

by spacemanearthgirl



Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: F/F, Fake Marriage, Fake/Pretend Relationship, SuperCorp, cue supercorp being domestic in a small town together
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-21
Updated: 2018-07-27
Packaged: 2019-04-05 11:31:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 14
Words: 46,415
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14043348
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/spacemanearthgirl/pseuds/spacemanearthgirl
Summary: Based on an anon prompt from tumblr:"Lena’s life is threatened and the DEO urges her to go hide in a small town (in or out of the country) where the name Luthor won’t mean anything, and Kara of course goes with her bc that’s what (superhero) friends are for. So that’s how they end up fake married in a small town and fall in love for real. Or realize they’re already in love?"





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Here's the full prompt:  
> "You know that [Slasher gif set](http://spaceman-earthgirl.tumblr.com/post/171392418966/goodgirlargo-slasher-sarah-bennett-17) you reblogged? When I saw that I though the following: Lena’s life is threatened and the DEO urges her to go hide in a small town (in or out of the country) where the name Luthor won’t mean anything, and Kara of course goes with her bc that’s what (superhero) friends are for. So that’s how they end up fake married in a small town and fall in love for real. Or realize they’re already in love? Is this too crazy of an idea or something that doesn’t spark your interest?"

Lena has to go, she has to leave. Four attempts on her life in as many days and it’s no longer safe for her (or anyone else) in National City. So she needs to get away from the city and to safety until Lex is caught because clearly after four failed attempts on her life, he’s not giving up.

 _Witness protection._ That’s what Alex had called it and Lena knows Winn is already setting everything up, getting ready for her departure tonight, but it doesn’t feel real.

She’s being sent away, for who knows how long and there’s nothing she can do about it.

She has to leave everything behind. Her job, her friends, everything.

_Kara._

Lena’s eyes find her across the room. She can leave her company, knows it’s in good hands, she can leave her friends, she doesn’t really have many of them anyway. But Kara, her best friend, how is she meant to leave her? The one person who’s stood by her, been with her, since the beginning.

The one person who’s believed in her, trusted her, made her feel welcomed and happy and so _so_ loved.

How can she leave Kara?

Kara’s been oddly silent since they arrived back at the DEO after she’d saved her yet again. She just stood there as Alex had told them the plan and Kara had said nothing, had barely even glanced at her.

But Lena needs her to look at her now, needs to say something to her, to say good bye or see you soon or _I love you._

“Kara.” Her voice breaks on her name. She doesn’t mean it to, it was meant to come out strong and sure, a goodbye, but her voice cracks, much closer to a sob than she’d like.

Kara’s eyes flash to hers and the rest of the room vanishes for a moment as everything stills as her eyes lock with Kara’s.

How is she meant to go for who knows how long without seeing those eyes?

“I-“

Kara’s in her arms, well more she’s in Kara’s arms, before Lena can finish her sentence. The surprise wears off after a moment and then Kara’s in her arms too as Lena wraps her arms around Kara’s back as well.

“Lena,” Kara whispers, the name sounding broken and Lena only holds her closer, her hands fisting in Kara’s cape. Kara’s arms tighten too and Lena buries her face in Kara’s shoulder and wills herself not to cry, she can’t break down here, not in the middle of the DEO.

She feels Kara pulling away not long later and Lena forces herself to let go of Kara’s cape, the material slipping through her fingers. She has to let go now or she might not be able to.

Except Kara doesn’t go far, just enough to look her in the eyes again. Lena’s arms fall to Kara’s forearms and she holds on tight, not ready to let go if Kara isn’t either.

“I’m coming with you.” Lena stills at the words as Kara turns, still close to Lena, to repeat the words louder to Alex. “I’m going with her.”

“Kara, you know you can’t.”

Kara steps back completely from her but then she’s at her side, their shoulders pressed together. “Will she be safer if I go?”

“We’re going to keep Lena safe, Winn should almost have everything in place. We’re not going to let anything happen to her.” Alex turns to her. “We’re not going to let anything happen to you.”

“But will she be safer if I go?”

“Well, technically yes but-“

“Then I’m going.”

“But-“

“No, Alex, I’m going, end of story.”

Lena can see Kara is set in her decision but she can’t let her do this, can’t interrupt her life like this. “You don’t have to do this. All your friends and family are here. Your job is here. National City needs you, they need Supergirl.”

“Exactly,” Alex butts in.

Kara ignores her. “J’onn and Guardian can look after the city while I’m gone. J’onn can even patrol the city as Supergirl to avoid suspicion.” Kara looks to J’onn who’s been watching Winn work across the room. He nods in agreement and it sends hope through Lena’s chest. Could Kara actually come with her?

“But-“ Alex tries to interject but Kara ignores her as she turns back to Lena.

“My family and friends are here but you’re my family too and I can’t let you move across the country alone. I know what it’s like to be in a new place where you know no one and have to keep to yourself, hide who you are. I promised I’d always be there for you, that I’d always protect you. If you want me to come with you, I will.”

“I-“ Lena’s voice breaks again.

Kara reaches over and gives her hand a squeeze. “All you have to do is say the word and I’ll go with you.”

Lena nods, not sure she can speak around the lump that’s formed in her throat.

There’s a few more arguments tossed out by Alex but they’re half-hearted now, everyone can see Kara’s already made up her mind.

Winn gets informed of the changes and he turns immediately back to his computer, somehow typing even faster than before.

There’s nothing to do but wait after that, wait for Winn to get their new identities sorted and make sure everything is ready for their arrival (wherever they’re going) and wait until it’s late enough so they’re less likely to be spotted leaving the city.

“Done!” Winn exclaims loudly, just after midnight and Lena startles in the chair she’d been sitting, halfway to sleep in her now exhausted state.

“Here you go,” Winn says holding out two cards that are clearly licenses towards her and Kara who has joined her at her side. “Mrs. Kate Phillips,” he says, handing the first card to Kara. “And Mrs. Laura Phillips,” he continues, handing the second one to Lena.

Lena’s eyes flick down to the card now in her hand, double checking the name on the card before looking over at Kara’s card too. Her eyes move up to Kara’s face next to find her looking at her own card, her cheeks red and Lena’s sure hers are too.

Phillips. They share the same last name. Lena looks back up to Winn and the grin on his face lets her know he hasn’t just made them sisters, that they share the same last name for a different reason.

They’re married.

_Married._

She’s married to Kara.

Kara’s going to be her wife.

“Since you two are married, you’re going to need these.” Winn holds out two sets of rings towards them, one in each hand, that same grin still on his face.

God she is going to kill him.

He throws her a wink and that only intensifies the feeling.

He knows just how Lena feels about Kara, knows that she has a crush (well more than a crush honestly) from when it had just slipped out when they’d been working in the lab together late one night. If Kara finds out thanks to his little joke, she’ll kill him. Although, maybe she should wait to get him back until her own life isn’t in danger.

Also, how has Winn gotten hold of rings like this so fast??

Before Lena can react to take her new rings from Winn’s outstretched hand, Kara reaches out and almost snatches both sets off of Winn.

Lena stills, she hadn’t considered that.

What if Kara objects to the idea of them getting married, what if she makes Winn change their identities so they’re sisters or just friends?

Lena’s not sure she could handle the reality of that. There’s always been hope in the back of Lena’s mind, however small, that Kara may return her feelings, that one day they could be together. If Kara says something now, all that hope will be gone and Lena’s not sure she can deal with that on top of everything else right now.

Lena startles when she feels Kara take her hand. She looks over at Kara who’s smiling softly at her and it’s the smiles like this that cause hope to flare in her chest, just as it does now.

Kara has her left hand held gently in hers, her thumb stroking softly over her ring finger, right where the engagement and wedding rings would sit.

Lena’s sure her heart is going to beat out of her chest.

“Is this okay?”

Lena’s not sure exactly what Kara is referring to, the fake marriage, Kara coming with her, or the fact that Lena has to go away in the first place thanks to her brother’s assassination attempts. But Lena nods anyway because it doesn’t matter, none of it matters in this very moment, with Kara gently holding her hand and smiling at her, Lena knows that everything is going to be okay when she has Kara by her side.

Kara carefully slides the engagement ring and wedding band onto her finger. “There you go, Mrs. Phillips,” Kara says with a wink, a teasing light in her eyes.

Kara’s mood is infectious as Lena laughs too and now she feels like she should thank Winn instead. She doesn’t though as she holds out her hand, curling her fingers, gesturing for Kara to hand over her own rings. If Kara put her rings on then Lena should get to put Kara’s on her too.

Kara hands over the rings and now she’s grinning, they both are, as Lena slips the rings onto Kara’s own hand.

“Okay, lovebirds,” Winn says, clapping his hands to gain their attention. She’s forgotten they weren’t alone. And now she’s back to wanting to kill Winn again. “Here’s what you need to know.”

He goes through everything, J’onn and Alex listening in. Everything is set for them to leave now and a car is waiting for them whenever they’re ready. The car will take them out of the city and Lena knows they’ll be making no stops at either of their apartments for any of their belongings on the way, they’ll be leaving with nothing of their own. Once they’re out of the city, Kara will fly them east, across the country to a small town near the east coast where they’ll remain and lay low until it’s safe for them to return.

The house there is all set up too, furniture, belongings (or Laura and Kate’s belongings anyway), everything. The movers were there earlier and to the neighbours, it’ll look like the new home owners paid someone to move their stuff in and then arrived late at night.

Winn seems to have thought of everything.

So now all that’s left is to say goodbye.

“Take these with you too,” Winn says, handing them a phone each. “You can use them to contact each other and Alex, if you ever need us for anything. We’ll use that to contact you if we need to. There’s a bunch of fake names and numbers on the phone but Alex’s number is under the contact ‘Mom’.” Winn hands Alex a third, identical phone. “The less contact we have with you, the better, so only contact us if you have to.”

Lena nods as she tucks the phone in her blazer pocket, where her new driver’s license is currently sitting. If they’re meant to be undercover, she’s sure she’s not going to be able to wear this again anytime soon.

She hugs Winn first, pulls him in tight while Kara says goodbye to her sister. Guilt pools in her stomach as she sees Kara wipe a few tears from her cheeks as she pulls away.

“Take care of her,” Alex says next as she pulls her in for a hug too. The surprise at the hug comes in second to her surprise at Alex’s words. Isn’t Kara the one who’s meant to be looking after her?

That doesn’t mean she won’t do it though.

“Of course.”

James hugs her next and then even J’onn gives her a hug too, promising they’ll do everything to find Lex and keep her safe.

The drive seems short and in no time at all they’re leaving the city lights behind them.

“Are you sure about this?” Lena asks. Because despite how much she wants Kara by her side, not just because she’s a literal superhero who can keep her safe, but because Kara’s her best friend and anything is better when they’re together, everything feels better when she’s with Kara. But she can’t take Kara away from her life, her home, if she’s not sure about this.

They have no idea how long they may have to stay away.

Kara reaches across the space between them and takes Lena’s hand. “I’m sure. I told you, you’re not alone anymore.”

Lena’s heart stutters in her chest as Kara gives her hand a squeeze.

“Thank you.”

“Always.”

The car pulls up at a seemingly random stretch of road and they get out. The driver gives them a wave and then they’re alone.

Kara tilts her head and Lena can tells she’s listening. “We’re alone, we weren’t followed. Are you ready?”

Lena nods before she steps into her friend’s open arms.

The next bit is the flying and Lena’s not so fond of that, especially considering  how recently all of the times she’s been flying have resulted in or have been the result of her almost dying. Not only that, this flight is going to be considerably longer than her previous ones. She takes a few deep breaths to try and slow her heart down but of course Kara can hear it.

“You okay?”

Lena nods as she buries her face in Kara’s neck and loops her arms even tighter around Kara’s shoulders.

“I’ve got you,” Kara whispers as she tightens her own arms around Lena’s back. “I’m not going to let anything bad happen to you.”

“I know,” Lena says and she does, she knows Kara has her no matter what.

 Kara takes off gently and they head east. Lena is unsure of what the future may bring them as the leave the city and the life they know behind but she’ll be forever thankful that Kara is still by her side.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have no idea how long this fic will be but I've been thinking about this prompt a lot and I look forward to writing more of it.
> 
> Thoughts?
> 
> Tumblr: spaceman-earthgirl


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow, I did not expect the response that this fic received so I want to thank all of you for reading/commenting/leaving kudos, you all inspired me to write this chapter quickly and I hope you enjoy it.

It’s early morning by the time they land, the sun not quite rising yet but it must be close. Lena shivers as she steps away from Kara, the body heat that had kept her warm throughout the flight gone as Kara moves away.

They make their way to the front of the house and find the key exactly where Winn had said it was.

Part of Lena wants to explore the house as they step inside but a much larger part of her just wants to sleep, the exhaustion of the day really setting in now.

And it has been a long day.

Last night she’d been attacked in her apartment, in her bed, and luckily Kara had heard her scream and had quickly come to her rescue. That was the third attack on her life, the fourth coming not even twelve hours later while she’d been at L-Corp.

She should’ve listened to Kara, she should’ve listened when she’d insisted that Lena come to the DEO with her, for her protection. But she’d been stubborn and hadn’t wanted to show Lex he was getting to her. So she’d gone into work and of course had been attacked again.

She did listen to Kara after that, let her bring her to the DEO where she’d be temporarily safe until they sorted out a more permanent place for her to stay until it was safe again for her in National City.

And that’s how she’s ended up here.

The house is furnished, that much Lena can see as the make their way through the living room. They pass a kitchen as they move through the house but Lena’s main goal now is to find a bed and sleep.

They find two of them, a bed made up in the guest room and a bed in the room which is clearly meant to be theirs, if they were a normal married couple anyway.

They can sort out sleeping arrangements in a moment though, first things first is to find something to wear to bed because she definitely wants to get out of the skirt, blouse and blazer she’s had on since the previous morning and Lena knows Kara won’t want to sleep in her Supergirl costume either.

“Wow, Winn’s really outdone himself,” Kara says as they walk into the closet to find it full of clothes. The only way to tell whose is whose is after a closer inspection of the labels which gives them the size, a lot of the clothes are nothing either of them would normally wear.

Although, Lena supposes that’s the point.

She also sees a lot of plaid shirts in her immediate future.

They find a drawer that’s full of sleepwear and find some pyjamas each to wear before Kara disappears down the hallway to get changed in the bathroom, leaving Lena to use the ensuite to get ready for bed.

As she gets dressed she realises that this the first time she’s actually been alone since all this began just over twenty four hours ago, when she’d been attacked for a third time and she’d realised just how intent Lex was on having her killed and how in danger her life really was.

Lena can hear Kara moving around in the other room and it’s a comfort to know that she’s not alone, not really. She’s not sure what she’d be doing if Kara wasn’t here, she’s not sure if she could’ve handled that.

There would definitely have been tears by now.

But none of the matters because Kara _is_ here, Kara stayed with her and she knows she’ll always be there for her.

Kara appears back in the doorway. “I’ll take the guest bed, if that’s okay with you?”

“Are you sure you don’t want this one?” Lena asks, gesturing to the bed behind her. She wants to ask if Kara just wants to share the bed instead, but it doesn’t seem like she can now, not with Kara offering to take the other bed. There’s no reason for them to share when there’s a second bed, no reason apart from the comfort sleeping beside her friend would bring.

That’s not a valid enough reason to ask Kara to stay.

Kara waves her off. “You take it, the guest bed is fine.” She pauses. “I’ll be just down the hall if you need me, okay?”

The moment feels heavy with the thought of why she’s actually here, the reminder that her life is in danger present in the seriousness of Kara’s gaze.

But then the moment shifts and Kara’s smiling again. “Goodnight, Mrs Phillips,” Kara says as she throws her another wink.

Lena laughs, Kara’s smile feeling warm in her chest. “Goodnight, Mrs Phillips.”

Despite the tiredness from the long day, it takes Lena a while to fall asleep, every sound, every creak of the house, a reminder of her previous night and the man sent to kill her while she slept. The thought of Kara so close helps though and they may not be in the same bed or even the same room but she can almost feel her presence, the warmth and safety she exudes just by being nearby.

Kara’s close, Kara’s here for her, and that’s the thought that helps her finally drift off to sleep.

xxx

It’s light when Lena blinks her eyes open though that’s really not surprising considering it was close to sunrise when she’d fallen asleep. Her first thought is to find her phone to see what the time is when a noise catches her attention.

It’s a soft noise, one that’s familiar but hard to place, and only when she sits up and looks around the room does she realise what it is.

It’s someone snoring.

It’s _Kara_ snoring.

Kara’s sitting on the floor near the door, back against a wall, asleep and snoring.

Lena’s heart skips a beat at the adorable sight, a smile slipping onto her face as she watches Kara, blonde hair spilling around her face as her chest rises and falls with each breath all while making the cutest little noise. Who knew snoring could be so adorable?

She bites her lip, unsure what to do now? Lena should wake her, right? She shouldn’t leave her to sleep on the uncomfortable floor. What is Kara doing there anyway?

Unless…no, that can’t be it, can it?

Except she knows Kara, she knows how much she cares. And it’s a very Kara thing to do to sit in her room to make sure she’s safe, despite the fact that her x-ray vision and super hearing would’ve told her if Lena was in trouble during the night.

Lena pushes back the covers and climbs out of bed, walking over to Kara’s side and crouching down next to her.

“Kara?” Lena says softly, a gentle hand on her shoulder. “Kara, wake up.”

Kara blinks her eyes open, squinting against the morning light. “Lena? Is everything okay?”

“Everything’s fine,” Lena says, giving Kara’s shoulder a soft squeeze. “I just thought you’d be more comfortable in a bed.”

“Oh,” Kara says, sitting up straighter as she seems to realise exactly where she is. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to fall asleep, I just wanted to make sure you were okay.”

“Thank you,” Lena smiles, her heart fluttering in her chest as she realises she was right before. She hopes Kara isn’t paying enough attention to hear it. “Did you want to go back to bed or are you ready for breakfast?”

Kara immediately perks up at the mention of food. “Breakfast?”

Lena laughs. “I take it you’re hungry?”

“Always.”

Lena laughs again. “Well, why don’t we go and see how good Winn really is and see if he stocked the kitchen too?” Lena makes a mental note to ask Winn how he orgnaised all of this when they’re back because it’s amazing how much he’s done.

It turns out he didn’t stock the kitchen though, all that’s in the cupboard is some bread and in the fridge there’s some butter and milk. There’s not even any coffee. How is she meant to survive without her morning coffee?

Kara’s more upset about the lack of food.

“I’m going to have to have words with Winn when we get back, he knows how much I love food.”

Well, Winn couldn’t do everything. “I’m sure there’s a supermarket or something around here where we can get some food.”

“Oooh yes! We can go exploring! See where we’re going to be living for the foreseeable future.” Like a switch her excitement changes to uncertainty. “Except…” She trails off.

“Except?”

“Is it safe for you to go out?”

“If I’d been alone I would’ve had to anyway, right?”

Kara pauses to think for a moment. “I’d rather not risk something if we don’t have to.”

Lena frowns. “So I’m just meant to stay locked up here, never going outside, until Lex is caught?”

“No…that’s…no.” Kara pauses again. “Okay, how about this? You only go out if I go out with you, that way I can be there if anything happens?”

It sounds like she’s being babysat and with anyone else she’d protest, claim she’s not a child and she can look after herself. Except this isn’t just anyone, it’s Kara and she knows she’s only doing this, only _here_ , because of how much she cares. And why would Lena ever argue about spending more time with Kara.

“I think I can handle that.”

“Okay,” Kara says with a clap of her hands, her grin back on her face. “Let’s go to the supermarket.”

“Let’s get dressed first _then_ go to the supermarket,” Lena says with a laugh.

Kara looks down at her clothes with a laugh. “Right.”

They head back to their bedroom, or well, her bedroom, it’s only ‘their’ bedroom for the purposes of their cover. Lena grabs a plaid shirt and some jeans to wear (she really doesn’t have a lot of choice with the plaid) and she watches as Kara grabs a pair of jeans for herself and a white shirt that’s folded. She picks something else up on the way out but Lena doesn’t catch what it is.

Kara leaves the room, leaving Lena the privacy to have a quick shower and get changed into her own clothes while Kara does the same in the bathroom down the hall.

The hot shower is nice, washing away the last day but she’s hungry so as much as she’d like to stand under the hot spray for longer, she has a quick shower then gets changed into the clothes from her new wardrobe, the clothes that are Laura Phillips and not Lena Luthor.

She checks herself out in the mirror once she’s dressed and she definitely doesn’t look like the CEO she was yesterday, now she looks more like the small town teacher her cover says she is.

Lena steps out into the living room when she’s done to wait for Kara, only to find Kara already dressed and waiting for her instead.

And…wow.

Kate Phillips definitely dresses differently to Kara Danvers and Lena is too gay for this because damn Kara looks good.

She’s wearing jeans, which Lena already knew, and the white shirt that Kara took was apparently a tank top which means Kara’s arms are on full display and wow do they look good.

And then she’s wearing suspenders?

Why on earth is she wearing suspenders??

She’s back to wanting to thank Winn though now she’s the one who might die.

_Is your heart meant to beat this fast in your chest?_

“How do I look?” Kara asks and she’s beaming and it does nothing to help Lena’s racing heart.

“You-“ Lena chokes on her words and has to clear her throat. “You look great.”

Kara steps closer and Lena honestly thinks that this is how she’s going to die, not by Lex’s hand but by how goddamn good Kara looks right now.

“You look pretty great yourself,” Kara smiles, hand reaching out to tug on the bottom of Lena’s shirt. “Plaid is a good look on you.”

Lena blushes. She really needs to get herself under control.

“You ready to go?”

Lena nods, not sure she can talk.

“Turns out we have a car too but I googled it and it’s a ten minute walk to the Supermarket so I thought that’d be nice. If you’re up for a walk that is?”

Lena looks away from Kara, or away from Kara’s arms really, because that’s the only way she can form a coherent thought. She looks out the window instead as a distraction. “The weather looks nice so a walk sounds good.”

They only see a few people on their walk but it’s a small town and Lena supposes that’s why Winn chose this place. Small town means less people and less chance of someone recognizing her.

They pass a few houses as they walk and every street they pass has more houses on either side. The houses are more spaced out than they’re both used to in National City and Lena hasn’t seen this much grass in a long time.

The supermarket is easy to find once they hit the main street which has shops lining either side. There’s a café, a couple of restaurants and a pizza place which Kara excitedly points out. There’s a few clothes shops too, a hardware store, a crafts store and an old cinema, all adding to the small town picture Lena has in her head.

“Can I get this?” Kara asks, holding up yet another item as they wander the aisles of the supermarket.

“You’ve already got four packets of cookies, do you really need another?”

“Four? We have two, tops.”

Lena shifts the box of muesli to reveal there is in fact already four packets of cookies already in their shopping cart, Kara thought she’d been sneaky but Lena had caught her putting them in there, along with a lot of other unhealthy food she’d snuck in while she wasn’t watching.

Lena laughs at Kara’s pout but she takes the box of cookies and tosses them into the cart. They’re going to be here for who knows how long so why can’t they indulge in a bit of junk food? Lena’s already put enough fruit and vegetables in the cart to satisfy her healthy eating needs so what’s wrong with having something sweet to eat too?

Kara’s face lights up. “Really?”

“I’ll make you a deal, you can get whatever you want, as long as you can carry it back to the house.” Kara looks even more excited so Lena quickly goes on before Kara can get too excited and get another cart. Lena’s voice drops. “Only as long as you look normal while carrying it all.”

Lena has visions of Kara carrying mountains of food back to their house, arms full, and that’s one way to draw unwanted attention to them.

Her words do nothing to curb Kara’s excitement as she grabs another tub of ice cream.

The cashier gives them a weird look as they check out but Lena knows that’s not due to him recognizing her but because of the sheer amount of junk food they’re buying.

Lena’s actually not sure if they’re going to be able to carry it all home.

Kara manages though, she carries a lot more than Lena does but it doesn’t look like it’s too much for one person to carry and that’s all that matters although next time Lena thinks she’ll suggest taking the car.

“So, pancakes for breakfast?” Lena asks once they’re home and all the groceries are away. Kara has already torn into one of the packets of cookies but they both need something more substantial.

Kara nods, mouth too full to answer verbally but they both still when there’s a knock at the door. Suddenly the lightness from the morning is gone, the seriousness of the situation hitting Lena full force. They’re not here to have fun, she’s not here on vacation with her best friend, she’s here because her life is in danger and one mistake could get her killed, the person on the other side of the door could be someone sent after her.

All of this, all the set up and the hiding, it would’ve been for nothing if Lex has already found her.

Kara hastily swallows her mouthful of food and frowns as she uses her x-ray vision.

Well, that’s definitely not a good sign.

“Stay here, don’t make a sound. I’ll let you know when it’s safe.”

Lena stays put in the kitchen while Kara goes to open the front door. She strains her ears and can hear voices, but she can’t work out what they’re saying.

She doesn’t move, she doesn’t breathe and she knows Kara can handle herself but that doesn’t mean she’s not nervous as she waits.

“Laura, sweetie, can you come here for a minute?”

Lena startles at Kara’s voice but it’s more the words that send her heart really beating in her chest.

_Sweetie._

But if Kara says it’s safe then she trusts her so Lena leaves the safety of the kitchen and heads towards the front of the house.

She sees immediately she had nothing to worry about as she finds Kara smiling while talking to a young woman who’s balancing a young child on her hip.

“…yeah we arrived late last night so we just went shopping since we had no food.” She turns to Lena as she arrives at the open front door. “This is Nicole, our new neighbour. She saw us get home from the supermarket and wanted to come say hi. Nicole, this is my wife, Laura.”

_Wife._

Nicole shifts the toddler on her hip and holds out a hand for Lena to shake. “Hi Laura, it’s nice to meet you.”

“And this is her youngest, Oliver,” Kara continues, gesturing to the child in Nicole’s arm. “Isn’t he adorable?”

Kara pokes her tongue out at the toddler and all Lena can think is that Kara’s the adorable one.

“How long have you two been married?”

Lena almost panics at the question but Kara steps in and answers. Why is Kara suddenly the one who has everything under control and she’s the mess, isn’t it usually the other way around?

“Two months,” Kara says, threading her hand into Lena’s and giving it a squeeze. Kara leans sideways and gently knocks their shoulders together while sending a soft smile in Lena’s direction. “Best two months of my life.”

Lena feels her knees go weak with that smile.

“Well, aren’t you two just the cutest.”

Lena’s eyes shoot back to Nicole, but then she can’t help but send a sideways glance at Kara and it’s nice to see she’s not the only one blushing.

“I should let you two get back your morning, I just wanted to stop by and let you know if you need anything, I’m right next door.”

“Thank you,” Lena smiles, finally getting hold of her herself. “And we’re right here if you need anything too.”

“Thank you.” Nicole shifts Oliver on her hip again. “Say bye.”

The little boy waves and both Lena and Kara smile and wave in return.

“It was nice meeting you,” Kara says with a last smile at Nicole.

“Phew,” Kara says as soon as she’s shut the door and Lena hadn’t realised how tense she’d been until she watches Kara visibly relax in front of her. “I’m really glad that was a lady with a baby and not a man with a gun.”

Lena laughs. “Aren’t we both?”

“Plus, we just survived our first encounter with someone while pretending to be married and I think we did pretty well if I do say so myself.”

Kara’s smiling at her again and all Lena can hear are Nicole’s words echoing through her mind.

_Well, aren’t you two just the cutest._

Lena clears her throat, trying to push down the feelings swirling in her stomach. “So, pancakes?”

“Yes!” Kara grins, squeezing the hand that’s still held in hers.

How had she forgotten they are still holding hands?

That doesn’t matter because they still are and just because she wants to hold Kara’s hand for just that little bit longer, she uses their joined hands to drag a willing Kara into the kitchen with her.

“I’m going to make so many pancakes that even you won’t be able to eat anymore.”

xxx

Kara flops down on the couch and Lena takes the seat beside her, sitting much more properly than Kara is.

“I’ve never said this before but I don’t think I could eat any more.”

Lena laughs. It had been quite impressive how much Kara could put away, she just kept making pancakes and Kara kept eating them.

“I told you,” Lena says, knocking her shoulder against Kara’s.

“You did.” Kara pauses. “So, I was thinking, since we’re supposed to be lying low and we shouldn’t go out unless we have to, we could have a movie afternoon?”

“Is that just so you have an excuse to eat junk food? I thought you said you couldn’t eat anymore?”

“I can’t right now, but I’ll be hungry in an hour.”

Lena rolls her eyes before she switches on the TV and finds there’s a Netflix account set up for them under their name’s and this is just another thing she has to thank Winn for.

Kara disappears into the kitchen and returns with a bag of popcorn and some chocolate while Lena selects a movie.

Lena gives her a look when she returns.

“Don’t judge me, it’s for later.”

Lena laughs as she presses play and settles more comfortably into the couch.

They’re not halfway through the first movie when Kara tilts sideways until she’s leaning into Lena, her head falling to rest on Lena’s shoulder.

She stays like that for the next two movies and Lena would think she’d fallen asleep except for the occasional commentary and the more than occasional eating.

It feels nice, having her so close.

If this day is any indication of what witness protection with Kara is going to be like, then maybe life isn’t so bad right now after all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Anything in particular you'd like to see in this fic? Let me know. Also [this gif set](http://spaceman-earthgirl.tumblr.com/post/172120991099/ludhor-queens-of-wearing-black-and-white-flannel) is how I imagine Lena to look in this chapter.
> 
> Thanks for reading!
> 
> Tumblr: spaceman-earthgirl


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm not sure how I feel about this chapter but here it is anyway. Thank you to everyone who commented on the last chapter, all your kind words made me smile :)
> 
> [This](http://spaceman-earthgirl.tumblr.com/post/172618516462) is where I got the inspiration for Kara's outfit in the last chapter for those who asked.

They move around each other so easily as they make dinner and the ease of it makes Lena think about just how domestic this whole day has been. They’d made breakfast together, went shopping together, talked to their neighbour (will pretending to be married) together, watched movies all afternoon on the couch together and now they’re making dinner together.

Everything just feels so…easy with Kara, just like it always has been, they just fit together, and it’s really clear with how well they’ve adjusted to being in each other space and living together even if it has only been one day.

“Can you pass the cheese?” Kara asks, gesturing to the block beside Lena who is stirring the pasta sauce on the stove.

Lena hands the cheese to Kara who starts to grate it and Lena has just taken the sauce off the stove when the oven timer goes off indicating the apple pie in the oven is ready.

(The apple pie had been Kara’s baby, she’d been intent on making the whole thing alone and Lena had let her, making the dinner part of their meal while Kara had made the dessert).

“I’ve got it,” Lena says, waving Kara off, who’s still grating cheese as she’d started to help Lena once the pie was in the oven.

Lena switches off the oven and finds some old looking oven gloves in one of the drawers. She slips them onto her hands before she opens the oven, the smell of delicious pie instantly filling her nose.

She has the pie halfway out of the oven when she realises something is wrong, the glove on her right hand heating up too quickly and she wonders idly if there’s a hole in the glove because it’s starting to burn her fingers.

“Ow ow ow” Lena says, stepping backwards quickly, needing to get the hot dish onto the counter before her fingers burn or it slips from her grasp, the dish already too hot under her hands.

She’s moved only a fraction towards the counter when she feels the dish being lifted from her hands. She watches as Kara places the dish on the counter before she turns back to her with a worried expression on her face.

“Are you okay?” Kara asks as she pulls the gloves from Lena’s hands, looking for any signs of burns.

“I’m fine,” Lena says but that doesn’t stop Kara from dragging her over to the sink and holding her hand under cold water just in case. The relief is instant as the cool water runs over her hand.

Kara holds up Lena’s hand close to her face, to inspect the red tips of her fingers where the dish had burned her.

“Are you okay?” Kara asks again and Lena nods, the burning now the last thing on her mind now as Kara still holds her hand so gently. Lena wonders about Kara’s superstrength, about how someone so strong can have so gentle a touch.

“Thank you,” Lena says softly with a smile as Kara drops her hand.

“Anytime,” Kara says with a smile of her own in return. “But until we can buy new oven gloves, can we leave the handling of hot dishes to me?”

Lena agrees with a laugh.

xxx

By the time the day is over, Lena is exhausted. It’s not like they’ve done much today but Lena can feel the past few days catching up with her and even with the time difference between the east and west coasts, she’s ready for bed by 9pm.

“Call me if you need anything, okay?” Kara asks after she’s walked Lena to her room and Lena can tell she’s tired too.

They’d watched a fourth movie after they’d had dinner together and today really has felt so domestic that Lena doesn’t know what to do with the feeling. All she knows is that she doesn’t want it to stop.

She watches Kara leave with a smile before she steps into her own room and closes the door over.

It’s surprising how quiet it is as she gets ready for bed with Kara not around, even after just a day it feels wrong to now be alone. Lena slides into bed and can feel Kara’s absence even more acutely as she listens to the sounds of the house. It’s different than last night, Kara had felt so close, just down the hallway, and now that distance seems so big after being around her all day.

Despite the exhaustion she felt earlier, it takes a while for her to fall asleep again, Lex’s face and the many people he’s sent after her on her mind as she lies alone in her bed.

The tiredness gets to her eventually, overcoming her fear, and she drifts off to sleep.

xxx

Lena knows as soon as she wakes up that it’s not morning yet, the sky still dark through the curtains. A sound filters into her mind as her eyes adjust and immediately she recognises the noise coming from the other side of the room.

Lena sits up and blinks in the dim light of the room and once again finds Kara asleep on her floor. Lena smiles as she quietly gets out of bed and takes in her best friend, head tilted back against the wall this time with her mouth hanging open as she snores quietly.

Lena crouches down beside her. “Kara, darling, wake up,” she says softly, a hand on her shoulder just like the previous night.

Kara stirs under her hand. “Lena?” Immediately she’s alert as she sits up straighter. “Is everything okay?” Kara’s eyes flash around the room, looking for anything out of the ordinary.

“Everything’s fine,” Lena quickly reassures her. “But you should be in bed.”

“I’m fine,” Kara says, sitting up even straighter. “You can go back to sleep.”

“You need sleep just as much as I do.”

“Actually, I don’t,” Kara replies with a grin that Lena would call cheeky.

She’s going for playful but Lena’s not going to let her change the tone of this conversation. “Which would be fine if I didn’t know for a fact that you’ve been keeping an extra close eye on me this past week.” Lena’s voice turns soft. “You’re the reason I’m still alive today.” Lena knows that Kara has been patrolling a lot more recently, watching her in case Lex attacked and all that extra time has meant she mustn’t have gotten much rest herself.

Kara looks down, now focusing on her hands in her lap. “How am I meant to sleep knowing something could happen to you?” Kara looks back up at her and the look Kara gives her almost brings tears to her eyes.

She can see just how much Kara cares, how scared she is, and she hates that she’s doing this to her.

Lena stands and holds out her hand for Kara to take. “Come on, I have an idea and you need sleep.”

Kara reluctantly let’s herself be pulled to her feet. “But-“

“Please,” Lena says, hand still in Kara’s. “You have to rest sometime. I know you’re just as tired as I am.” This time Lena smiles playfully. “You did just fall asleep on my floor.”

Kara remains serious this time though. “What if I go back to my own room and I’m not fast enough if something happens?”

“We’re safe, I’m safe, no one knows we’re here.” Lena thought Kara would be the one reassuring her, not the other way around. “But that’s why you’re not going back to your room, you’re going to stay here.”

Kara frowns. “I don’t-“

Lena cuts her off with a tug of her hand and realisation dawns on Kara’s face as Lena pulls her towards the bed. “Oh, no, Lena, I’m just being silly. I can go back to my own room.”

“Do you want to stay?”

After a moment’s hesitation, Kara nods.

“And I want you to stay. So, please, I’m sure we’ll both sleep much better if you do.”

Kara pauses for another moment before she climbs into one side of the bed and Lena walks around and climbs into the other. They both settle back against the pillows.

“Relax,” Lena says with a small laugh after a minute. “I can practically hear your brain working. Sleep, I’ll be fine.” She reaches out once more and threads her fingers through Kara’s. “There, that way if anything happens, you’ll be the first to know.”

Kara gives her hand a squeeze. “Thank you.”

Lena falls asleep much easier this time as she drifts off to Kara’s even breathing.

xxx

The bed is cold and empty when Lena wakes the next morning and she tries not to let the disappointment she feels in. It’s ridiculous to think about how nice it would be to wake up with Kara’s smiling face on the pillow beside her.

_It’s not something that’s ever going to happen._

Lena shakes that thought from her mind, and gets out of bed to distract herself, wondering where Kara is.

She finds her in the kitchen, several pleasant smells hitting her senses at once as she steps through the door and she smiles at the scene before her.

“Good morning.”

“Oh, shoot,” Kara says spinning on the spot, a spatula in hand. “I thought you were still in bed.”

Lena laughs. “Well, I was.”

Kara turns back to the stove, scrapping the omelette she’s made onto a plate. “I was going to bring you breakfast in bed,” Kara says, gesturing to the now two full plates of food. “But I guess it’s just a normal breakfast now that you’re already up.”

Lena’s heart flutters at the domesticity of it all. “You didn’t have to do that.”

“I know.” Kara looks nervous. “But I wanted to apologise for last night, I shouldn’t-“

“Stop right there, you have nothing to be sorry for.”

“But-“

Lena gives her a look. “Nothing,” she repeats. “If anything, I should be making you breakfast as a thank you. You’ve saved me more times than I can count and last night I had the best sleep I’ve had in I don’t know how long. So you definitely don’t need to apologise.”

Kara pauses. “Okay. This is a thank you then, because I had the best night’s sleep I’ve had in a long time too.”

Lena takes the plate and cup of coffee Kara offers her with a smile.

She really hopes Kara’s words mean that sharing a bed may happen again in the future.

xxx

Since it’s probably a good idea to go out as little as possible while they’re here, Lena chooses more comfy clothes to wear today since they have no plans of going anywhere. She picks out a pair of sweat pants and a warm looking hoodie and she’s relieved when she sees Kara pick something similar out of their shared wardrobe, Lena’s not sure she could handle seeing Kara in an outfit similar to yesterday quite so soon after the last one.

Kara disappears down the hallway to shower and Lena uses the bathroom next to her bedroom to get ready and by the time she’s done, she’s not surprised to find Kara on the couch once more, this time with a book in her hand.

Lena selects her own book from the bookshelf and settles in next to Kara.

Not two minutes later, Kara huffs out a breath.

Lena tilts her book down, looking over it at Kara. Kara, who looks adorable, face scrunched up in a pout as she slouches on the couch.

“Something wrong?”

“I’m bored.”

“It’s going to be a very long day with that attitude.”

Kara goes back to her book for all of a minute before it falls to her lap once more. “I’m still bored.”

Lena rolls her eyes. “Find something else to do then.”

Kara gestures around the room. “There’s not exactly a lot to do around here.”

“You don’t have to stay here, you know? You can leave anytime you like.” The words falls from Lena’s lips without thought, all she’s thinking about is Kara and her happiness but the fear slips in as she finishes the sentence. What if Kara says yes?

“No!” Immediately Kara sits up start, book falling to the floor as she turns to Lena. “That’s not what I meant at all!” She pauses. “I’m just not that great at sitting still with nothing to do. But I’m not leaving you, okay? No matter what happens, I’m here until you’re safe.”

She nods, ignoring the ways her heart is beating extra fast in her chest with the intensity that Kara is looking at her.

“I have an idea.” Lena stands, the idea already forming in her mind as she walks across the room and picks her phone up from the table. She can feel Kara watching her but she doesn’t let that distract her. She scrolls through the phone and finds what she’s looking for, yet another thing she needs to thank Winn for.

She hits play on the NSYNC song she’s found and Kara’s face instantly lights up as she recognises the intro music.

Lena puts her phone down on the coffee table and holds out her hand towards Kara with a grin, fingers wiggling in her direction. “Will you dance with me?”

Kara’s hand is warm in hers and Lena easily pulls her to her feet. Kara immediately starts dancing and Lena can’t help but join in as they bounce on the balls of their feet, bodies moving in time to the music.

Their hand stays joined as they dance, Kara not making a move to let go so neither does Lena.

Lena’s so focused on Kara’s face, the pure delight there, that she sees as soon as she starts singing, the words starting quiet but building into the chorus.

And God, is there anything she can’t do? Her voice sounds beautiful and Lena is almost transfixed as she watches Kara.

Kara pushes her hand forwards and Lena gets the hint and spins out so they’re at arms length before Kara pulls her back in and she spins into Kara’s body, both woman laughing as they crash together.

The song ends and Lena steps away to stop the music as the next song starts but she doesn’t get far as Kara pulls her back in.

“We have to dance to this one too!” she says excitedly and there’s no way Lena could say no to that face.

Kara takes her other hand and they dance together as they both sing ‘Shake It Off’, Lena not even caring how ridiculous she must look and how bad she sounds because Kara is laughing and she looks so carefree and happy and Lena hasn’t seen her look like this maybe ever.

Lena’s breathing heavily by the end of this song and not even Kara’s pout can stop her this time as she steps away and turns off the music before she sits down on the couch for a rest.

“Not all of us are as fit and healthy as you.”

The pout is gone and Kara laughs as she sticks out her tongue at Lena before she flops down beside her, much less gracefully.

“Thank you,” she says, reaching over to take Lena’s hand once more. “That was fun.”

Lena nods. “It was. Even if I can’t sing and you sound like an angel.”

Both women blush.

Kara opens her mouth to say something in reply but a knock on the door cuts her off and startles them both.

Lena looks to Kara.

“It’s a man and a woman,” Kara says with a tilt of her glasses. She’s still been wearing them even here, as part of her disguise. Or Lena assumes that’s why anyway, maybe she should ask. “I think they’re the neighbours from across the street.” Kara tilts her head towards the kitchen. “You go and hide, I’ll see what they want.”

Lena nods as everything comes rushing back. She’d forgotten for a moment that she’s here because her life is in danger, once again too caught up in Kara.

Lena waits in the kitchen while Kara answers the door and straining her ears does nothing to help her hear what’s going on. She hears the door close not long later but she waits where she is, waits for Kara to give her the all clear.

Kara appears in the kitchen doorway. “It was the neighbours.”

“What did they want?”

“They’re having a dinner party tonight and wanted to extend an invitation to us.”

“Oh. What did you say?”

“I said yes, but we don’t have to go.”

Lena pauses. “Should we go?”

Kara’s clearly thinking about it too. “It could be a good idea. We can scope out the neighbours, see if anyone is suspicious or has just arrived like us. Plus, they’re more likely to take notice of us if we don’t show up, then they’ll wonder why we didn’t come.”

Lena nods, it makes sense. They can get a feel for their neighbours while appearing friendly themselves, they don’t want to end up as town gossip.

“But is it safe to? What if someone recognises you?” Kara pauses, clearly thinking some more. “I know, we’ll give you a disguise!”

Lena laughs. “A disguise?”

“Yeah, glasses or something, it’ll totally work!”

“I’m not sure glasses are a very effective disguise.”

Kara pouts.

“But I guess it works on National City so it’ll work here too,” Lena quickly adds.

“Okay, so we’re going then?” Kara asks and she sounds hopeful and Lena knows it’s because she’s already looking forward to going out and doing something besides sitting around the house all day.

Lena nods and Kara’s almost vibrating with excitement.

“This gives us something to do today too, we need to make sure our stories line up with Winn’s information. And I’m sure we can make up some things for ourselves. Ooooh this is going to be so much fun!”

Oh.

Yeah.

They’re married, or at least pretending to be, how could Lena have forgotten about that?

Kara’s watching her expectantly.

“Let’s do this, then,” Lena says, trying her best to smile as nerves flutter in her stomach.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thoughts?
> 
> This chapter was the domestic supercorp I promised and next chapter we're obviously going to see a lot more of fake married supercorp
> 
> Tumblr: spaceman-earthgirl


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A big thanks to everyone who's gotten this far, thanks for reading!

“Aha!” Kara exclaims as she walks back into the living room, holding something high above her head.

Lena recognises the item in her hand immediately. “You were serious about that?”

“Of course,” Kara says, holding out a pair of black-rimmed glasses towards Lena. “We have to take every precaution for your safety.”

Lena takes the frames and turns them over in her hands. “Where did you even find these?”

Kara takes her seat again beside Lena on the couch. “They were in the same drawer I found the suspenders. I’m not sure what Winn was thinking with most of the stuff in there but these work.” Kara looks at her expectantly. “Well, are you going to try them on?”

Lena looks down at the glasses in her hand, she’s not sure they’re going to be a disguise at all but Lena can’t say no to Kara so she slips them on her face.

“So,” Lena says, her eyes finding Kara again. “How do I look?”

Kara opens her mouth, about to say something, before she snaps it shut again, her eyes wide as she watches her.

Lena looks over Kara’s face, wondering what’s suddenly wrong. She nervously adjusts the glasses, fingers holding the side of the frame to do so, something she must’ve picked up from just watching Kara.

“Kara?”

“Uhhh…” Kara’s mouth falls open but no actual words come out.

“Do they look bad?” Lena asks nervously, hand moving this time to actually remove the glasses. That’s the only explanation she can think of, why else would Kara be acting this way?

“No!” Kara almost shouts, her hand shooting out to grab Lena’s to stop her taking off the glasses. She clears her throat. “No,” she says again, voice back to a normal level this time, her eyes darting quickly over Lena’s face. “No, they, you, ahh, you look good. _Really_ good.”

Kara nervously bites her lip while waiting for Lena to reply and Lena’s not really sure what to think as the last few minutes run through her mind.

“Thanks,” Lena eventually settles on, not sure what else to say as a blush stains her cheeks when her mind registers exactly what Kara has just said and the emphasis she put on ‘ _really._ ’

“So,” Lena says, clearing her throat when Kara does nothing more than just look at her. “We need to make sure we’re ready for tonight.”

Lena slips the glasses back off her face just for something to do and that seems to snap Kara out of whatever’s on her mind.

“Okay, yes,” Kara says with a clap of her hands, seemingly back to normal. What just happened? “We moved here from Washington after my grandma passed away and we came into some money.”

Lena nods, deciding not to dwell on it. Sometimes she has no idea what’s going on in Kara’s brain. “We wanted to start a new life together, away from the big city.”

“How did we meet?” Kara continues and it’s a test, one they both already know the answer to from Winn’s quick briefing before they left.

“We were teachers at the same school.”

“And how did we start dating?”

The question stills Lena for a moment, that’s something they haven’t actually discussed. Winn just gave them the basics for their covers and they had to fill in the rest. Lena doesn’t let the question get to her though, it’s not about her and Kara, it’s about Laura and Kate.

“I asked you out one day, and you said yes.” There, that’s simple and believable and doesn’t reveal any of her feelings for Kara.

“What!”

The sudden exclamation surprises Lena. “What?” she asks, quieter than Kara and with much more confusion in her voice.

“You asked me out? I definitely was the one that asked you out.”

“Oh?” Lena asks, a smirk slipping onto her face. “Really?”

“Really,” Kara says with a decisive nod.

“Fine, you asked me out first but I was the one who proposed.”

Kara opens her mouth and Lena expects a protest, expects Kara to claim that, no, she was the one who proposed too. What she doesn’t expect are the next words that come out of her mouth.

“And how did you ask me to marry you?”

Lena’s mouth falls open at the almost flirtatious tone Kara uses, the way her voice drops on the words.

“Uhhh…” She’s got nothing, can think of nothing as Kara smiles at her.

“You can’t even remember how we got engaged?” Kara clutches at her chest dramatically. “Lena, I thought you loved me”

Lena latches onto the teasing, needs it to feel normal again, needs it to remind herself that none of this is real, they’re not together, they’re not married, Kara is just her best friend.

Lena gently elbows Kara in the side. “Of course I love you, you dork.”

Kara can just never know how much she actually means those words.

“I took you on a picnic,” Lena continues and Kara grins as she realises what she’s doing. “I brought a lot of food with me too, so that you’d have enough to eat and wouldn’t be hungry.”

Kara laughs. “That was much appreciated,” she says with a wink.

“It was after dinner and we were on a blanket under the stars and I turned to you and told you that you make me happier than I ever thought I could be and that I wanted to spend the rest of my life with you and I asked you to marry me.”

Kara gives her a soft smile, one that never fails to make Lena feel warm and happy and it doesn’t even matter that what she’s just described didn’t actually happen because Kara’s eyes are crinkling in the corners and she looks so happy and this right here, it’s enough.

Kara reaches over and gives Lena’s hand a light squeeze. ”And of course I said yes.”

Yes, this is enough.

xxx

They spend the rest of the day going over random details from their lives, enough that they can fool anyone into thinking they’re a couple. It crosses Lena’s mind that they never actually practice acting like a couple, something that always seems to happen in movies when a fake relationship is involved. But Lena supposes they don’t really need to, they’re comfortable around each other as friends and on occasion, it’s been mentioned that they act like a couple anyway (mostly teasing from Alex and Maggie, and Winn when it’s just the two of them).

So Lena’s sure they’ll be fine, or at least she hopes so anyway.

“You nearly ready?” Lena calls out. They’d been told the party starts at 7pm and it’s five minutes to the hour now and Kara is still in the room getting ready. Lena’s not sure if they’re supposed to be there right on seven or if it’s expected that everyone will turn up late and she’s actually starting to get nervous again thinking about the whole evening. She’s used to parties, but not ones like this, not ones where people gather for the sole purpose of seeing each other and having fun, she’s not sure how parties like this work.

“I’m ready,” Kara says from behind her, Lena not having heard her arrival, too caught up in her own thoughts.

“Great, should we-“ Lena cuts herself off as she turns to see Kara on the other side of the room.

And my God, did she die in the last few minutes or something because the sight before her is honestly something she never thought she’d see while she was alive on this earth.

She really needs to have words with Winn about his wardrobe choices, she hates to think what else could be in there.

“What do you think?” Kara asks, spinning on the spot with a grin, her loose hair spinning with her before it settles back on her shoulders. “I think I should wear stuff like this more often, I really like it.”

 _Please, no,_ is all Lena can think because most of her brain is currently stuck on thinking just how amazing Kara looks and she’s sure if she has to see an outfit like this on Kara more than once, then she won’t survive it.

Because Kara’s wearing a suit. _A suit._ She’s wearing pants and a shirt and a vest and it’s honestly the hottest thing Lena thinks she’s ever seen in her life.

The suit is dark, contrasting the white shirt she’s wearing. There’s no suit jacket in sight and Lena’s glad, the outfit looks perfect just the way it is.

 _Kara_ looks perfect just the way she is.

But she always does, whether she’s all dressed up like she is now, in a suit or a dress, if she’s in her professional work clothes, or if she’s wearing her casual ‘around the house’ clothes, she always looks beautiful.

“Or is it too much?” Kara asks, smile slipping from her face at Lena’s silence. “I can go and quickly change, I’ve just always wanted to wear a suit and I saw it in the wardrobe so I thought why not.”

Lena takes a deep breath as she steps towards her, pushing down all the feelings that are currently swirling in her chest, and there’s a lot of them. Kara looks nervous now and all Lena wants to do is fix that. “No, please don’t,” she says, surprised at how steady her voice sounds. “You look really nice, it suits you.”

Kara’s laugh startles her and it takes a moment for Lena to realise the accidental joke she’s made and she rolls her eyes.

“You look beautiful,” Lena says, smiling now that Kara’s smiling again. “You always do.”

Kara’s head drops as she blushes, her hands slipping into her pockets and now she just looks adorable. Her head tilts back up after a moment to look Lena in the eye once more. “You look beautiful too.”

Now Lena’s heart is beating for an entirely different reason and she’s blushing too.

She’s gone for a more casual look, jeans, a nice shirt and her hair loose and wavy around her face. She’s going for more of a ‘Laura Phillips’ look than a ‘Lena Luthor’ look, wanting nothing to connect her to the name she’s temporarily left behind.

“You ready to go?” Lena asks after a moment, breaking the silence that has settled between them.

Kara picks up the pair of glasses they’d left on the coffee table and hands them to Lena. “Are you?”

Lena slips them onto her face. “Now I am.”

xxx

They walk across the road together and a glance through the window as they walk up to the front door of their neighbour’s house tells them they’re not the first people to arrive.

“You ready?” Kara asks quietly, slipping her hand into Lena’s as they reach the front door.

Kara must be able to hear how fast her heart is beating, the nerves getting to her as they stand in front of the door. There are too many things to worry about tonight. First of all, she has no idea how to act at a party like this, used to events as a Luthor, but at least she can take the lead from Kara. Then there’s the fact that anyone could recognise her and their whole cover could be blown but at least Kara’s here for that too.

Then there’s Kara herself and how they have to act. They’re married, she has to act as though Kara is her wife without revealing her actual feelings for her friend. At least at the end of the night, she can claim any feelings that may slip through are just Lena being good at acting.

Lena nods and then Kara knocks and suddenly the door swings open and the smile on the woman who greets them rivals one of Kara’s smiles, she’s absolutely beaming.

“Kate! I’m so glad you could make it.” She’s still smiling as she turns to Lena. “And you must be her wife, I’m Penelope but everyone calls me Penny, it’s so nice to meet you.”

Lena can’t help but smile at the warm greeting, not used to people being so happy to meet her. She slips her hand from Kara’s and extends it towards Penny, more out of habit than anything else. “I’m Laura Phillips, it’s nice to meet you too.”

The hand doesn’t seem to deter the woman as she shakes it warmly. “Please, come in.”

As they step inside Kara retakes her hand as they’re ushered into the sitting room.

“You two make yourselves at home and I’ll get you both a drink. Is wine okay or would you like something else?”

Lena turns to Kara who nods. “Wine would be lovely thank you.”

Penny vanishes to get them their drinks and Lena is suddenly unsure what to do again as she looks around the room at the various people already engaged in conversation. This house is quite a bit bigger than theirs, evident alone by the size of the lounge room and living area. There’s no table in sight so Lena assumes there must be a dining room somewhere too. Their house is big enough for the two of them but this one is undoubtedly nicer.

“Look, there’s Nicole, let’s go say hi,” Kara says, breaking her from her thoughts and reminding her where exactly they are. She just hopes this evening goes smoothly.

Nicole spots them as they’re halfway across the room to her and her face breaks into a large smile. Lena’s really not used to that, not many people besides Kara are ever actually genuinely happy to see her.

Nicole shuffles over from her position on the couch and pats the seat beside her and they have no choice to sit down. Not that she doesn’t want to, but she knows that small talk isn’t really her forte and that’s what they’re going to have to do. Sure, she’s a business woman and she can handle talk with clients or investors, where there’s a goal to the conversation, but here there’s nothing, nothing she’s aiming to get or trying to do and Lena’s not really sure what to say in a situation like this, especially one where there’s a very limited amount she can talk about because technically she’s not Lena right now.

“This is Danielle,” Nicole says, gesturing to the woman sitting across from her. “Danielle, this is Laura and Kate, my new neighbours.” She turns back to them. “Dani has just had a baby so this is her first night out since and I’ve been stuck with my kids for the past two weeks while my husband is away so I’ve had very little interaction with adults so we’re getting drunk tonight.”

Getting drunk, that sounds like a good idea.

“I’m not,” Danielle cuts in. “I have to breastfeed Alice when I get home.”

“You’re no fun,” Nicole says and she takes a swig of her drink. “So, how’re you two settling in?”

“Good,” Kara says. “It’s a nice little town you’ve got here.”

Penny interrupts them with their drinks and the conversation turns to talk about Danielle’s new baby and it takes any pressure off of them for a bit and Lena actually finds herself relaxing and the talk turns to Nicole’s family.

“Watch out for those two,” Nicole says, the abrupt change in conversation confusing Lena for a moment as she turns in the direction that Nicole is pointing to see an elderly couple who have just arrived. “Mary is basically the town gossip, she likes knowing everything about everyone. She’s sweet but sometimes just a bit too nosy.”

Okay, so they definitely need to avoid her this evening. But knowing her luck they’ll definitely end up on the receiving end of questions they’ll struggle to answer for their cover.

They get introduced around to other people after that, and that’s basically the point of their evening, to figure out if anyone down their street is suspicious, it’ll certainly help Lena sleep a bit better knowing that at least no one on their street wants to kill her.

It turns out the last people before them moved here six months ago so that at least rules out any of the permanent residents of the town. It doesn’t mean they won’t recognise Lena but at least they know none of them followed her here. Hopefully, anyway.

“I’m sorry to do this to you, but I really don’t think you have much of a choice.”

Lena sees movement in her peripheral vision and she sees exactly what Nicole’s talking about. Kara must here the uptick of her heartbeat because she glances sideways at her and she sees what Lena has spotted too.

“Hi, Mary, Rob. I’m just going to grab another drink and I’ll leave you to meet the new neighbours.”

Yep, of course this was going to happen. They haven’t even had dinner yet but is it too early to leave? She could always claim she’s feeling unwell. They’ve done their snooping, they’ve gathered what information they can, so maybe they should just leave.

Or maybe Nicole was just exaggerating and they’ll be fine. They know their back stories, right?

Nicole disappears with a sheepish look leaving the two alone with the smiling older couple.

“I don’t think we’ve been introduced yet. I’m Mary and this is my husband Rob. Welcome to the town, it’s always nice meeting new people.”

Lena can’t help but smile at the genuine words as Kara speaks. “It’s nice to meet you. I’m Kate and this is my wife, Laura.”

“It’s lovely to meet you, dears.” Her smile is so warm and Lena can’t help but think that if she ever had a grandmother, she’d want it to be someone who smiled like that.

“So, I hear you two are newlyweds?”

They both nod.

“How long have you two been married?”

“Two months,” Kara says, shooting her a sideways glance, a soft smile on her face, one that Lena absolutely loves. Two months means nothing to them, just a random time length Winn chose but it feels like it means something when Kara smiles at her like that.

“And how long were you together before that?”

Nicole wasn’t wrong about Mary being nosy, but at least they’re easy questions.

“Two years,” Lena supplies, following the approved back story. Lena gently nudges Kara’s side, they’re meant to be selling their cover, right? “Best two years of my life.”

There’s truth to her words, which she thinks Kara can see too if the crinkled smile is anything to go by. They technically have only known each other a year and a half, the time stretched for their cover, but her life has been significantly better since Kara walked into it, despite the alarming rise in attempts on her life.

Rob excuses himself to get a drink and Lena sees the look in Mary’s eye and she knows what’s coming next.

“Now that he’s gone, I want to know everything.”

Kara and Lena share a look. Everything?

Mary doesn’t seem deterred by their silence.

“How did you two meet?”

Okay, that’s an easy one.

“We’re both teachers and I moved to a new school which happened to be the same one Kate taught at.”

“Who asked who out?”

Another easy one. And they’re quite good at this ‘team’ thing.

“I asked Laura out.”

“Come on,” Mary laughs. “I need more than that. How did you do it?”

Lena feels Kara still beside her. That wasn’t something they’d discussed. But it’s still easy, nothing that could reveal anything about their true selves, so Lena takes the question.

“Kate turned up at my classroom one morning, which wasn’t an unusual thing in itself,” Lena says, thinking of all the times that Kara has stopped by her office just to say hi or to bring her food. “But this time she had a lovely bouquet of flowers with her and she asked me out.”

Kara relaxes beside her with the answer and Lena thinks maybe she isn’t so bad at this.

“Awww that’s so sweet,” Mary says and Lena would be annoyed at the semi probing questions except for how genuine Mary sounds, how much she really seems to want to hear their story. “Was it Kate that proposed too?”

“That was all Laura,” Kara says, back in her element again as her shoulder gently knocks against Lena’s. “I was nervous enough asking her out, there was no way I could get through a proposal, especially not without crying.”

Mary seems to be loving every word. She turns to Lena. “How did you propose?”

“I took her on a picnic and asked her to marry me under the night sky.” She stops there, she doesn’t want to share the words she’d said, even if she’d made them up for just such an occasion. They feel too intimate, too real, so she keeps that part of the proposal to herself.

“What about the wedding? Do you have any pictures?”

How many more questions can this woman have?

“It was beautiful,” Kara says, a faraway look in her eye as she says it and Lena has to commend her acting, it really looks like she’s remembering the day.

“No pictures with us unfortunately, they’re all in an album at home.”

Mary looks disappointed and Lena only hopes she doesn’t turn up at their house one day and ask to see them because then they’d be in a bit of trouble.

“So, are you two planning on having kids any time soon?”

Lena freezes at the question and she feels Kara do the same. Of course the one thing they haven’t actually discussed would be asked. And any other question it wouldn’t have mattered, and it shouldn’t matter, she’s not answering as Lena, she’s answering as Laura. But this question feels even more personal than the rest because it’s something she’s actually thought about a lot.

(Okay so she’s thought about how she could ask Kara out or how Kara could ask her out and what their life could be like together but this is different.)

Does she want kids? She’s not sure, she always said she didn’t, afraid of screwing them up, but maybe with Kara it’d be different. Kara makes her better, makes her feel like she can do more, can be more, and with her by her side anything is possible.

Does Kara want kids?

She’s not sure about that either.

Not that it matters though, why is she even thinking about this? It’s all fake and Kara’s not her wife and she just needs to answer the damn question.

Except she still has no idea how to answer it.

Why hasn’t Kara said anything either?

“Dinner time!”

Relief floods through Lena as their conversation is interrupted and they’re all directed into the dining room and they escape having to answer.

“She certainly had a lot of questions,” Kara says quietly with an awkward laugh as they take their seats and Lena can do nothing but agree.

The rest of the evening goes well after that and Lena finds herself relaxing again as they eat, enjoying the spotlight being off them for a change as she listens to stories go around the table. Kara’s in her element again, throwing in fake stories and laughing along like this whole thing is real, like they’re not a temporary fixture in these people’s lives who will one day vanish without a word.

She makes her feel like they’re here to stay.

They thank Penny and her husband Simon for hosting the party and they leave with a round of goodbyes and a promise to be added to the roster to host their own party in a few months.

They manage to avoid Mary for the rest of the night too and Lena’s grateful for that. She’d expected questions about them, as there’d be about any newcomers to such a tight knit group, but Mary definitely asked more than she was comfortable with.

“I know you’re probably still hungry,” Lena says once they enter their own house and it’s almost scary how much this place feels like home already, a haven away from the rest of the world. “So what do you say we have some ice cream before bed?”

Kara’s face lights up. ”Really?” It’s amazing she’s still hungry, Lena had cooked her a big meal before dinner so she wouldn’t be hungry eating a human-sized portion while they were out yet she still has room for more.

“I figure we deserve a reward for tonight, I think we did pretty well.”

“I think we did too, you make a pretty good wife.”

Kara winks and Lena can’t help but roll her eyes even if her chest flutters at Kara’s words.

“Now, come on,” Lena says, grabbing Kara by the shoulders and spinning her around. She gives her a little push towards the hallway. “Pyjamas first and then we can eat ice cream and watch Netflix before bed. How does that sound?”

Kara grins over her shoulder and Lena tries very hard to focus on her face and not let her eyes slip down. She’s still got that damn suit on and Lena thinks she’s made a valiant effort tonight not to get too caught up in staring but it’s very hard from this angle not to appreciate Kara’s figure.

“It sounds perfect.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There are a lot of [pictures of Katie](http://spaceman-earthgirl.tumblr.com/post/169563052904/kara-luthors-katie-mcgrath-glasses) wearing glasses but unfortunately I couldn't find any of Melissa wearing a suit like the one in this chapter. If anyone does know of any, feel free to send them my way!
> 
> Thanks for reading!
> 
> Tumblr: spaceman-earthgirl


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this chapter is from Kara's POV, a little insight into what she's thinking. (It's not a retelling of previous events but a continuation of their time away together). Most of the rest of this fic will be back to Lena's POV.
> 
> Thanks to all those reading this fic, you guys are the best.

Kara can’t help but smile as Lena’s head falls against her shoulder and she’s not surprised since it’s almost midnight. Just as promised, when Kara had returned to the lounge in her pyjamas, Lena had grabbed two cartons of ice cream from the freezer, cookie dough for Kara and mint chocolate chip for herself, and they’d settled on the couch together to watch the movie Lena had chosen.

As much as Kara wants to sit here for longer, the empty ice cream cartons in front of them (well Kara’s is empty, Lena’s leftovers are melting) and Lena pressed warm and soft against her side, she knows they should go to bed.

“Come on, sleepy,” Kara says, gently jostling Lena with her shoulder. “Time for bed.”

The grumbling protest that comes for Lena may be cute but Kara knows they both need sleep. Last night may have been the best sleep that Kara has had in a while but she can still feel the tiredness seeping in at this late hour.

They put the ice cream away and dispose of the empty carton, Lena shaking her head when she realises that Kara ate it all. Kara tries to fight the blush that spreads across her cheeks but it’s useless, her face turning red as Lena looks at her in amusement.

They walk down the hallway together and Kara passes her room, unsure if they’re going to repeat last night’s sleeping arrangements or not. It had helped, having Lena that close while she slept.

The first time Lena had been attacked last week, it was her good security team that found the bomb in her car that saved Lena’s life. The second time, an attack at a press conference, funnily enough talking about the first attack, had been stopped by Kara herself, Supergirl saving Lena just before the bomb went off. The third attack, Kara hadn’t been able to sleep knowing that Lena could be in danger so she’d been patrolling when she’d been attacked. It scares her, how close Lena had come that time, a gun aimed at Lena when she’d arrived. Lena had screamed, she must have known Kara was nearby, her name leaving Lena’s lips and Kara had been there in an instant to save her. The fourth time, later that day, an attempt on Lena’s life had been made at L-Corp, her security not doing so well this time, and it had been the fact that Kara had  been listening so carefully that had saved Lena.

So of course now she doesn’t want to let her guard down, doesn’t want to give anyone even the slightest chance to get close to Lena. She wouldn’t forgive herself if something happened to Lena and she could’ve stopped it. That’s why she’d been sneaking into Lena’s room at night, wanting to be close in case something happened. Both times she’d hated the fact that she’d fallen asleep, worried that her lapse in protection could cost Lena. So tonight she wants to spend the night with Lena, wants to feel her close and know that she’s okay, know that if anything does happen, she’s right there to stop it.

Except she doesn’t want to ask, doesn’t want to push or make Lena uncomfortable. So she’ll walk Lena to her door, and if Lena says nothing, she’ll say good night and retreat to her own room, lay awake there this time and listen to Lena, make sure she’s okay.

“Thanks for the ice cream,” Kara says, mostly for something to say as they reach her door.

Lena laughs. “I have no idea where you put all that food but you’re welcome.”

“Alien biology,” Kara grins but it slips from her face when she realises she has nothing else to say. “So…I guess I should…” She gestures behind herself, back down the hallway. “Let you get some sleep.”

Despite her words Kara doesn’t leave. She knows she should, she should say good night, turn and walk back to her room but she’s reluctant to leave her again, already misses the comfort of her best friend who is still standing in front of her.

“Are you sleeping in your room tonight?” Lena asks, chewing on her bottom lip and it catches Kara off guard.

“I…uhhh…well, I mean, I was but umm…” Why can’t she just say what she’s thinking? That’d she’d love to sleep in Lena’s bed tonight, not only because she knows she’ll be safe but it also brings her such comfort to be close to her.

“If you stay in your room, will I wake up to find you on the floor again?”

“No.” She’s adamant about that, if she sleeps in her own room tonight, that’s where she’ll stay.

Lena raises an eyebrow, a knowing look on her face, and that’s all it takes for Kara to break and admit the truth.

“I was going to lay awake in bed instead this time to make sure you were safe.”

She doesn’t make eye contact as she talks so she sees the movement of Lena’s hand as she reaches out for her.

“Come on,” Lena says with a smile and a tug to her arm. “I’m not letting you get another sleepless night on my behalf.”

They come to a stop at the foot of the bed and Kara looks beside her, uncertain again. This is what she wants, why is she scared?

(It’s probably something to do with the increase in Lena’s heartbeat but she chooses to ignore that for now).

“Are you sure?”

Lena smiles as she steps around the bed and climbs into it. She waves Kara forwards with her hand and that’s enough for Kara to walk around the other side of the bed herself.

Kara settles into the bed beside Lena, feels the pull of sleep as soon as her head hits the pillow. But that doesn’t stop her from reaching out with only slight hesitance and twining her fingers through Lena’s between them under the covers.

“Is this okay?” Kara whispers into the dark. Lena may have done the same thing last night but she doesn’t want to make Lena uncomfortable or do anything she doesn’t want her to.

Lena gives her hand a squeeze and Kara knows that’s her giving permission. “Goodnight.”

Kara smiles into the dark. “Goodnight.”

Lena’s hand is warm in hers and her heartbeat is comforting and Kara doesn’t even try to fight it as she drifts off to sleep.

xxx

The morning before when Kara had woken up, Lena had had her back to her but the view this morning takes Kara’s breath away, Lena’s face on the pillow right in front of her. She looks so peaceful in sleep, somehow even softer than usual, her age more clear in the gentle lines of her face. It’s calming, watching her and Kara feels sleep taking over her once more as she listens to Lena’s breathing.

But there’s an uptick in Lena’s heartbeat and before Kara can look away to avoid being caught staring, eyes blink open sleepily, a smile slipping onto Lena’s face as she catches sight of Kara, who’s definitely awake once more.

“Good morning,” Lena says, voice soft between them, thick with sleep.

“Good morning,” Kara says, powerless not to smile in return.

“Did you sleep well?”

“I did. Did you?”

Lena nods.

They lay like that for a moment, in silence, both just staring at each other again but then Lena rolls over and Kara’s afraid she’s going to leave the bed, she’s not exactly sure why that’s something she’s afraid of but that doesn’t matter as Lena simply sits up, leaning back against the headboard.

Kara sits up beside her, struck suddenly by the domesticity of this morning, and these past few days really. It’s been so comfortable with Lena, so natural, so easy, the feeling sitting warm in her chest as Lena smiles at her again.

“So,” Lena says, pulling the blankets up around her to ward off the morning cold. Kara has the sudden desire to reach over and wrap her arms around Lena to warm her up with her naturally higher body temperature but she feels like she’s pushed too many boundaries lately so she just pulls the blankets up around herself too. ”If you have nothing planned for today, I actually had an idea last night for what we could do.”

“What’s the idea?” Kara asks, curiosity colouring her voice. There’s not a lot to do around here and even after only a couple of days, Kara can feel herself getting restless. She’s not used to this, being stuck inside, stuck with not a lot to do, but if she could chose anyone to be stuck with in a place like this, it’d definitely be Lena. It is actually a choice to stay here too, something she’d do again in a heartbeat if she had to. Lena’s all that matters and if she has to suffer through some boredom then so be it.

“Well, you remember that crafts store we saw in town? I know how much you love to paint but you don’t have time to do it that often so I was thinking we could pay the store a visit, see what they have and do some painting today, maybe make some art to put up on these bare walls.”

Kara feels her mouth fall open of its own accord, surprise running through her. Out of all the things she thought Lena was going to say, that didn’t make the list. And of course it’s something she wants to do, just like the dancing yesterday.

Lena knows her well.

“Really?”

Lena laughs. “Really.”

“You’re my favourite,” Kara grins and just for a moment she forgets everything, forgets why they’re here, that Lena is in danger, forgets that she misses her sister and her friends and her city and all that matters is the woman in front of her whose eyes are soft and whose smile is wide who means more to her than she ever thought was possible.

“Come on,” Lena says with another smile, nudging Kara playfully in the side, breaking her from her thoughts. “Let’s have breakfast and then we can go shopping.”

Kara tries to contain her excitement, she really does, as she keeps glancing up at Lena while they eat breakfast. Except she can’t, because every time Lena catches her eyes, she smiles and then Kara grins too, around the mouthful of pancakes that are currently in her mouth. And she probably looks like an idiot but she doesn’t care because she’s happy and Lena has planned this day just for her and she knows she shouldn’t because of the reason they’re here but she’s really enjoying this alone time with her best friend.

Kara’s practically vibrating with the excitement by the time they make it to the store and she knows she’s bad in a supermarket, but she’s even worse now, surrounded by art supplies with no limit of what she can get (they brought the car this time so anything that can fit in there is fair game).

She’s surprised how well a small town shop is stocked, but she’s certainly not going to complain as she grabs so many different kinds of paint, as many different paint brushes as she can find, a few different-sized canvases and two easels, from around the shop. She’s not sure if Lena had planned to paint today herself but since it was her idea, Kara is definitely going to make her. She’s not even sure if Lena can paint but it really wouldn’t surprise her if she can, Lena’s good at everything.

All the while she’s collecting their supplies for the day, she sees Lena watching her, the amusement clear on her face, but it’s an encouraging smile, not an exasperated one she gives her, so Kara doesn’t feel bad, just warm, as she continues to fill the two carts they’ve got.

Kara’s not allowed to use her powers here, not her main, visible ones anyway. Well, not allowed are the wrong words, it’s more just a good idea if she can refrain from using them as much as possible, only using them if she must. She’d be careful if she did, just as careful as she would be back home because exposure would be bad anywhere, but she doesn’t want to do anything to risk Lex finding Lena so she’s made a no (or very little) powers rule, which is unfortunate right now because she very much wants to use her superspeed to take all the art supplies they bought and set them up inside as fast as possible because she’s dying to start painting.

As it is, they set things up at a human pace, which turns out to be fun and with Lena’s help, they get newspaper spread across the living room floor, all the paints set out, and both easels with a canvas set up on each in the middle of the room.

“What are you going to paint?” Kara asks, a paintbrush in her hand, the question going through her own mind as she glances over at Lena.

“It’s a secret,” Lena smirks, shifting the canvas so Kara can’t see it and Lena’s now facing her.

Kara’s mouth drops open. “Really?”

Lena nods with a smile as Kara pouts.

But they start painting and maybe this is better, Kara thinks to herself as she glances up, and she may not be able to see what Lena is painting, but this way she can clearly see Lena’s face as she paints. She’s pulled her hair up into a messy bun and there’s that slight crinkle between Lena’s eyes that Kara has always found cute, her eyes intensely roaming over the canvas, looking at whatever she’s painting. And then there’s the way she bites her lip  in concentration, the whole view coming together to form an adorable picture of her best friend and it almost makes Kara want to scrap the lake she’s painting and paint the beautiful scene in front of her instead.

It takes them all day, well, it takes Kara all day, to finish their paintings, Lena had finished hers just after lunch, adamant the whole time that Kara wasn’t allowed to look at her painting and despite her best efforts, she couldn’t catch a glimpse. Superspeed would’ve worked, but that felt like cheating and as soon as the thought had entered her mind, it was if Lena knew and she’d pouted and that was the end of that, there’s no way that Kara could do anything when Lena gave her that look.

“Does that mean I get to see yours now?” Kara asks as she puts down her own paintbrush and looks over at Lena who’s now curled up on the couch reading a book, waiting for Kara to finish her painting.

Lena places her book down and circles around to her canvas. “Only if I can see yours first.”

Kara rolls her eyes. “You’ve seen it plenty, you just saw it now as you walked passed. So now it’s my turn.”

Lena walks back around to behind her and Kara feels her stop at her back. “Is there a story behind it?”

Kara tilts her head up to find genuine curiosity in Lena’s eyes as they roam over the painting.

“It’s a lake I visited with the Danvers when we went away together not long after I’d arrived on earth.” Kara says, finding herself talking before she even realises it. It’s not often she talks so openly about her past but she’s always liked this lake, it made her feel calm, reminded her of a planet she’d visited with her parents when she was younger. It’s the same calm feeling she gets around Lena which is why she finds it so easy to share something like this with her. “And don’t worry,” she adds. “I made sure there are no distinguishing features in it, it just looks like a generic lake.”

“It’s beautiful,” Lena smiles down at her and Kara feels her heart fill.

“Okay, your turn.”

“I have to warn you,” Lena says, holding out her hands to stop Kara moving closer. “It’s nowhere near as good as yours.”

“I’m sure it’s good.”

“No, really, I can’t paint,” Lena insists, still not letting her see. “I can draw pretty well, but painting is definitely not one of my strong suits.”

Kara rolls her eyes. “Can’t I be the judge of that?”

Lena huffs out a breath but steps back, allowing Kara to move forward so she can finally see what Lena spent the morning working on.

Kara pauses when she sees the painting though, not sure what to make of it.

“It’s…ummm…it’s very…colourful?”

Lena laughs, her cheeks pink. “I didn’t know what to paint so I started with a house but it looked like a five year old had painted it so I painted over it and it ended up with this,” Lena says, waving her hand over the painting which is honestly just a mess of colours, all mixed together across the canvas.

“No wonder it didn’t take you very long to finish,” Kara says with a laugh.

Lena buries her head in her hands, clearly embarrassed.

Kara can’t keep the smile out of her voice as she reaches out and tugs Lena’s hands away from her face. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to laugh. I think it’s beautiful and we’re going to put it up right there.” Kara points to the wall above the small fireplace, right beside the only picture they actually have up on their walls.

(The picture, it’s a wedding picture, _their_ wedding picture, one that Kara’s been trying very hard not to think about, one she’s avoided looking at for too long because it sets a longing in her chest that she’s not entirely sure what to do with.)

“We’re not putting it up on the wall!”

“Yes we are,” Kara says, already pulling out a hook that they bought earlier. “Wasn’t that the whole point of today?”

“No,” Lena tries again but Kara’s having none of it. “You’re one can go up there, mine can go in the trash.”

Kara waves her off. “Mine can go in our room,” she says as she hangs up Lena’s on the wall.

There are more grumbled protests from Lena but that doesn’t dissuade Kara as she steps back to admire the work. It does still kind of look like a five year old painted it but Kara thinks it’s adorable.

“I know what might cheer you up,” Kara says, turning back to Lena.

“Let me guess, dinner?” Lena asks and she’s smiling again so Kara counts that as a win.

But that’s not what she’s thinking.

She’d had an idea while painting, Lena has done this for her, suggested painting today because she knows Kara loves it, and now she wants to do something for Lena in return.

“I have an idea of what we can do tomorrow.”

Lena quirks her eyebrow. “Do tell.”

“Nope,” Kara teases. “You’ll have to wait and see until tomorrow.”

“How is that meant to cheer me up then?” Lena says but her tone is playful too and Kara grins.

Kara pulls out her phone and taps on a few buttons, making sure that Lena can’t see what she’s doing. The idea she’s had requires a small bit of set up, just like Lena’s had. “There, we’ll be all set in the morning.”

“What did you just do?”

“You’ll have to wait and see, remember?”

“Please?” Lena asks, her lips forming a pout and it’s almost enough to get Kara to crack but she stays strong.

“All you need to know is that we’ll be staying in and that it’s something I know you like, just like you know I love to paint.”

She can see the curiosity burning in Lena’s eyes, all the possibilities running through her mind. She’d give her more clues but Lena’s smart enough already that she’ll probably have it figured out by morning anyway.

Lena lets it drop as they tidy up, hang the other painting in the room and then cook dinner together, the domesticity hitting Kara hard and warm again as they work side by side in the kitchen. She already knows that when they do finally get to leave, once Lena’s safe again, that she’s going to miss this, miss all this time with Lena, but for now she chooses to ignore that and focus on the present, on the good day they’ve had, they way Lena’s laughing as she tells a joke before Kara flicks a piece of carrot at her in return.

Lena flicks a tomato back which she catches in her mouth and it’s her turn to laugh.

She’s really enjoyed today, more so for the fact that Lena took the time to think of painting for her even if she wasn’t that good herself. She just hopes that Lena will enjoy tomorrow just as much.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was inspired by [this post](http://spaceman-earthgirl.tumblr.com/post/172558281807).
> 
> Tumblr: spaceman-earthgirl


	6. Chapter 6

Lena can’t stop thinking about it, can’t stop wondering, what Kara has planned for them tomorrow. She lets the subject drop, but that doesn’t mean it’s not in the back of her mind all evening, going through the possibilities of what Kara may have planned based on the details.

Not only that, but Kara has planned something just for her, something that Kara _knows she likes._ Whatever it is that Kara has planned, she’s done it just for her and it warms Lena’s heart.

There’s no arguments over sleeping arrangements tonight, Kara following Lena to the room when it’s time for bed and Lena can tell she’s hesitant, that she’s slightly nervous, if only for the fact that she hasn’t properly asked Lena if she can spend the night in their bed. Kara had referred to this room as ‘our room’ though, and whether she’d realised it or not, that’s what it was now.

They settle under the covers together and Lena reaches out and takes Kara’s hand, gives it a light squeeze, to show that of course she’s welcome here.

It’s bad, that after only a couple of nights side by side, Lena’s already used to the warm weight of Kara’s hand in hers. It’s nice, with Kara this close, knowing not only that if anything were to happen, Kara is right there, but that Kara is here because she wants to be, that she’s here for _her._

And now Kara has something planned just for her and she can’t wait.

xxx

Lena watches Kara the entire morning, trying to figure out what she’s up to but she gives nothing away. They wake up in bed together, and that’s something else Lena is beginning to get used to, a sleepy morning Kara is something else, something that sets off that warmth blooming through her chest once more.

They have breakfast together, something else that’s becoming routine but Kara gives nothing away. She disappears to get dressed and Lena would think she’s up to something if she couldn’t hear the shower running. By the time Lena is dressed herself, she finds Kara playing on her phone on the couch and she’s beginning to think that maybe Kara’s forgotten, maybe they’re going to spend another day eating junk food and watching TV when Kara’s head perks up and Lena knows she’s listening to something outside.

A knock at the door a minute later confirms Lena’s theory.

Kara’s grinning, an excited grin that Lena finds contagious and she’s smiling herself as she steps out of view of the door and Kara almost bounces over to answer it.

It’s a delivery person, Lena realises, when she hears the man on the other side of the door talking. She hears Kara thank him and then she shuts the door behind her, a box now held in her hand.

“Is this what you were doing on your phone last night?”

Kara’s still grinning. “We needed supplies for today, like we did yesterday. Except not as many.”

Whatever is in the box, it’s not big, and Lena feels her curiosity grow again. What on earth is Kara up to?

Kara places the box down on the coffee table and then she just grins over at her, like she knows how much it’s killing her now to not know what’s going on.

Lena huff out a breath. “Are you going to open it?”

Kara opens the box, more slowly than Lena would like, but at least Lena is finally going to see what’s inside.

Her heart skips a beat when she sees what Kara’s done.

“Chess?”

She’s breathless. Kara wants to play chess? The woman who has trouble sitting still doing almost anything wants to sit and play chess with her? Of course Lena’s told her about how Lex taught her chess when she was young and had first moved in with the Luthor’s. Kara had seen the chess board in her office and questioned it, Lena telling her about the trophies she’d won as a child once Lillian had realised how good she was. But not once has Kara ever expressed any interest in playing.

“Yeah?”

“You want to play?”

“Sure, why not? It sounds like fun.”

Lena may enjoy chess but she’s not sure if it’s Kara’s type of game. “Do you even know how to play?”

“I read the rules online earlier, it doesn’t seem too hard.”

Lena laughs. “You know I’m good, right?”

“I am aware. But are you good enough to beat me?”

Lena laughs again, she can’t help it. Kara’s well aware of all her chess trophies but Lena knows of Kara’s competitive streak so she has no doubt that Kara will try to win, even if she fails spectacularly. She quirks an eyebrow. “You think you’re going to win?”

“I guess we’ll just have to wait and see.”

They set up the board and then white moves first so Kara starts, moving a pawn two spaces forward. Lena’s attention is split between the board and Kara’s face as they play. She looks determined and it’s cute that she thinks she has a shot and it’s even cuter as that crinkle appears between her eyes as she watches the board, focused on the game.

“Checkmate,” Lena says, not long into the game and maybe she should’ve drawn the game out a bit more, let Kara have a few more moves, because now she’s pouting and while it’s adorable, she also feels slightly guilty for cutting short something that Kara’s put time and effort into so they could have something to do together.

“Best two out of three?” Kara asks hopefully, already resetting the pieces and Lena can’t say no to that.

“You sure you want to play again?”

“I’m sure,” Kara says brightly, moving the same pawn as last time, a more determined look on her face.

And maybe if Lena had been paying more attention to the board and less to Kara this time, she would’ve seen it earlier, but as it happens she doesn’t notice until it’s too late that Kara is a few moves away from winning, Lena’s mind always calculating several moves ahead.

“That’s checkmate,” Lena sits backwards in surprise. How on earth has she just lost?

“Does that mean I win?” Kara asks excitedly.

Lena’s good, she knows she’s good. In fact, she hasn’t lost a game since she was a child, except for now. It must just be beginner’s luck, right?

Lena can only nod.

“We’re tied. Next game wins,” Kara says with a smile, resetting the pieces once again.

This time, there’s no mistaking the intent in Kara’s eyes, it’s like a switch has been flipped and she can actually see Kara calculating each move, sees her mind working and she knows that the first round, and even the second, Kara had just been playing her.

“Checkmate,” Kara says brightly as she positions her bishop and Lena can’t believe it, she honestly can’t. Kara won? Kara beat her? Again?

Kara looks all bright-eyed and innocent but Lena catches it in the corner mouth, the slight twitch of her lip.

Oh, God, Kara really has been playing her, she really was just messing with her. Lena knows Kara’s smart, smarter than she let’s on to most people, but this is something else. Lena’s a genius, it’s just a fact, but if Kara just beat her it means that Kara is even smarter than she thought.

…it’s kind of hot.

“You’ve been holding out on me,” Lena says with a smirk. “You sure you’ve never played before?”

“Never,” Kara says with a grin, clearly proud of herself. “There was a similar strategy game we used to play on Krypton but that was much more complicated than this.”

Mentions of Krypton are rare and she got a few details from Kara’s past yesterday and she loves any small fact she gets about her friend. She knows Kara, knows what kind of person she is, she knows her heart, but she wants to know everything about her, wants to know every small detail that shaped her into the person she is today.

“You’re a lot smarter than you let on, aren’t you?”

“Maybe,” Kara says with a blush.

Lena doesn’t push her though, she resets the game herself instead. Kara’s definitely opened up more and more as they’ve gotten to know each other but she’s found that if she waits, Kara will tell her what she wants to and she’s not going to make her friend uncomfortable by asking questions she doesn’t want to answer.

“Best three out of five?”

“You know I’m good, right?” Kara says with a smirk, repeating Lena’s words from earlier back to her.

Lena raises an eyebrow in challenge. Kara may be competitive but so is she.

“I am aware.”

They play for hours and Lena holds herself pretty well against Kara even if overall, Kara does win more. Lena doesn’t even care though, it’s been a long time since she’s had a challenging opponent and she’s always found chess an enjoyable game because of the thought that is required for it but never has she had so much _fun_ playing.

They surround themselves with junk food (okay that was Kara) but they eat and talk and play and she can tell that Kara is genuinely having a good time too.

The fact that Kara pouts every single time she loses is another added bonus to winning, it’s entirely unfair how cute she looks when she pouts. But it’s enough of a distraction that Lena never wins two games in a row which leads Lena to believe that maybe Kara is doing it on purpose.

“In high school, I never used to hide how smart I was,” Kara says a while later, after she wins another game. “But when I realised it would draw attention to me, to the Danvers, I started pretending I wasn’t as smart as I actually am. It was just easier that way.”

“Don’t you ever get tired of hiding?”

Lena’s always been forced into the spotlight, forced to show off anything good about herself. She was taught to hide too, to hide the bad things, to hide her emotions, but this is different.

Kara shrugs as she they start another game. “It’s just easier this way.”

Lena reaches over the board, takes her hand before it can retreat. “You never have to hide with me, you know that, right?”

Kara smiles. “I know.”

They go back to playing when Lena has a thought. “When I talk about L-Corp, all the tech we’re working on and the science behind it, how much of that do you understand?”

Kara bites her lip, sheepish, and Lena already knows the answer. “All of it.”

“Kara!”

“What?” She says with a laugh. “You get so passionate whenever you talk science, it’s cute. So what if I ask a few questions that I already know the answer to? I like hearing you talk about something you clearly love.”

“Kara,” Lena says again, voice more of a breathless laugh this time as she tries to will her racing heart to slow.

“And maybe, sometimes, I have to try really hard not to correct you…” Kara’s words trail off and looks guilty this time.

“Oh my God,” Lena groans, not only realising how smart Kara is, but how stupid she must seem in comparison to her. All thoughts of Kara calling her cute gone as embarrassment settles in its place.

“By earth standards, you’re correct,” Kara hurries to explain. “But Krypton was more advanced so I know a few things that haven’t been figured out here yet.”

“Are you willing to share a few of these things?”

Kara smirks and Lena feels herself settle into Kara’s warmth once more. “Only if you win the next game.”

Lena doesn’t win, but that doesn’t stop Kara from talking, letting Lena in on a few secrets, ones that would really help with one of the projects she’s working on right now actually.

“What was Krypton like?” Lena eventually asks as they continue to play. She just can’t help herself though, she wants to know everything there is to know about Kara.

“You really want to know?” Kara looks surprised. Why does she look surprised?

“Of course, I want to know everything about you. Only if you want to tell me, that is.”

“The only other person I’ve really talked to about Krypton is Alex. I’ve talked to Kal and Winn about it before, but Alex is the only one who really knows.” She pauses. “I’d loved to tell you too.”

Lena smiles and the game is abandoned, not that she minds, as Kara starts talking about her home planet. She talks about her parents, her aunt Astra. She talks about the life she’d had, the other kids she’d played with, her friends, the game they played that was so similar to chess.

It gets harder for her as she talks about the loss of her world, the loss of her family, the years she spent trapped before arriving on earth. Lena had no idea, no idea how much pain Kara has truly been through. She sees it sometimes, the sadness in Kara, a look she gets in her eyes, but even with this new knowledge, Lena still can’t comprehend how hard it must be for Kara.

Lena reaches over and takes Kara’s hand, gives it a squeeze. She can see the sadness in her eyes now too but the smile Kara sends her way blurs the sadness and Lena’s glad that she can help, even if it’s a small amount.

The conversations switches back to lighter topics after that as Kara tells her about other worlds she’s seen, places her parents took her, that her aunt and uncle took her, and all the wonders she’s seen out in the universe. She tells her the story of the scar too, something that Lena had always wondered about. How did a Kryptonian who was practically invulnerable get a scar?

“I always wondered about this,” Lena says, hand reaching over of its own accord, her thumb brushing lightly over the scar.

Kara blushes and Lena’s not sure if it’s at the touch or the story behind it.

“Thank you for telling me all of this,” Lena says, removing her hand when she realises it’s lingering.

“You’re welcome. It feels good to talk about it again. I want to share this part of myself with you, it’s not something I share with many people but you’re my best friend, I want to share everything with you,” Kara says with a warm smile, her eyes doing that crinkling thing in the corners that never fails to make Lena’s heart skip a beat.

And with Kara’s words coupled with that look, Lena’s surprised her heart doesn’t stop beating altogether with how many emotions are currently swirling through her chest, the main one being, _I love you._

Lena reaches out for her again, her hand falling to rest on Kara’s this time. “Thank you,” Lena repeats and she hopes Kara’s knows how much she really means it.

“You’re welcome. And thank you for playing chess with me,” Kara says, trying to keep a straight face this time and failing miserably. “Even if you’re really bad at it.”

“Hey! I won quite a few games too!”

Kara laughs. “I’m still going to tell all our friends that I beat you at chess.”

Lena can’t even pretend to be grumpy by that fact, Kara looks much too happy for her not to smile too.

xxx

Lena’s used to Kara’s warmth beside her has she sleeps, used to her gentle snoring, so when she wakes up later that night with a cold hand and she can’t hear Kara snoring, it immediately puts her on edge.

“Kara?” Lena whispers as she rolls over, eyes falling to the woman in question next to her in bed, sitting up against the headboard instead of lying beside her like she had been when they’d fallen asleep together.

“Sorry,” Kara says, her voice sounding off. “I didn’t meant to wake you, go back to sleep.”

“Are you okay?” Lena asks, sitting up herself.

And oh, as she moves, the light from outside catches Kara face and Lena instantly sees the tear tracts down Kara’s face.

“I’m fine,” Kara answers but it’s obvious now that she’s lying. No one sitting up in the middle of the night silently crying is fine.

But now Lena doesn’t know what to do. Clearly, Kara wants to just pretend nothing is wrong but how is Lena meant to do just go back to sleep when the woman beside her is clearly upset.

“I…” Lena hesitates, her hand half reaching out towards Kara before she changes her mind and pulls it back, except she forges on with her words. “Is there anything I can do to help?”

Kara looks over at her, eyes full of tears and Lena has to exercise a lot of self control from stopping herself from reaching out to hug her.

“I had a nightmare,” Kara admits after a moment. “And usually I’d call Alex or go see her afterwards but…”

“You can go to her, if you want.”

“No-“

“You’re hurting and if it’ll make you feel better, you should go.”

“No,” Kara repeats and this time she gets to continue because Lena doesn’t cut her off. “I’m fine. I’ll be fine. I’m not leaving you.”

Lena is tested again as her arms itch to pull Kara into a hug, to hold her and hope she can tell that Lena is here for her, no matter what is going on in that mind of hers. All Lena wants to do is protect her, to be there for her, but she doesn’t know exactly how to do it.

“Is there anything I can do?” Lena asks again.

“Can you-“ Kara’s voice catches on a sob, more tears falling and Lena does reach out this time, lays a hand on Kara’s arm as her heart breaks for the woman in front of her.

“Anything.”

“Can I have a hug?”

On a good day, Lena struggles to say no to Kara and right now, she’d give her anything she asked for.

“Come here,” Lena says, opening her arms towards Kara and Kara wastes no time at all closing the distance between them. Lena wraps her arms around Kara and pulls her close, Kara’s face ending up nestled in her neck and Lena can feel tears running down her neck, soaking her shirt.

“Oh, darling,” Lena whispers, tightening her arms even more as she holds Kara, she feels so small wrapped up against her. Lena rubs her hand soothingly up and down Kara’s back as she relaxes into her. Lena presses a kiss to Kara’s forehead. “I’ve got you.”

Lena’s not sure how long they stay like that but eventually the tears stop and Lena’s halfway back to sleep when Kara finally speaks.

“It was about Krypton, I saw my planet die again,” Kara says, voice muffled from where she’s still pressed against her neck.

“I’m sorry,” Lena says, guilt rushing through her hot and thick as she realises she’s the reason Kara is so upset right now. “I shouldn’t have pushed you today.”

Kara pulls away, just enough so her voice can be heard clearly. “It’s not your fault. I meant what I said, I want to share everything with you.” She pauses. “I have nightmares often.”

Lena’s heart breaks as she thinks of Kara waking up alone, in tears, after seeing her world die yet again. Lena’s has her own fair share of nightmares so she knows exactly what it’s like to be alone afterwards.

“I usually go see Alex,” Kara continues. “But I’m glad it was you with me this time. Thank you.”

At least Kara has Alex.

“If Alex isn’t available, even when we’re back home, you can always call me, you know that, right?”

“I know.” Kara presses her face back into Lena’s neck. “Thank you.”

“What do you say we have ourselves a midnight snack and go have some ice cream?”

Lena feels the smile against her neck and fights the shiver at the contact. Now is not the time for _those_ types of thoughts.

“It’s well past midnight,” Kara says but she’s still smiling and Lena counts that as a win.

“Is it a no to the ice cream?”

“You know, with the amount of times you suggest we have ice cream, I’m beginning to think you like it more than me.”

Lena laughs. It’s true, and she really needs to start watching what she’s eating here. It’s only been a few days but they haven’t exactly been eating the healthiest food, even if she has tried. Maybe she should suggest they go for a run together. It’ll do nothing for Kara but it’d be something to do and exercise is always good. Or maybe not a run, but a long walk instead. There’s bound to be some nice walking tracks around here, they could make a day of it, go for a nice walk, have a picnic-

Kara’s words break her from her thoughts.

There’s time for thinking of future plans later, right now she needs to focus on Kara.

“Can we just try and get some more sleep instead, save the ice cream until tomorrow?”

“Of course,” Lena says, arms already slackening around Kara to pull away but that only prompts Kara’s hold to tighten.

“Can we stay like this?” Kara asks, voice small again. “I-“ Her voice catches. “It helps, having you close.”

Lena wraps her arms back around Kara. “Of course. Wake me if you need me, okay? The ice cream offer still stands.”

Lena feels her laugh this time, feels the movement jostle her slightly. “Goodnight, Lena.”

“Goodnight.”

Lena stays awake as long as she can, fights the tiredness she can feel seeping through her to make sure Kara falls back asleep too. Eventually she hears quiet snoring near her ear, Kara still pressed firmly against her and she lets herself succumb to sleep too, Kara’s embrace too warm and too comforting to fight it any longer as she falls asleep as well.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thoughts?
> 
> Tumblr: spaceman-earthgirl


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the wait! This chapter was meant to be longer but I’ve split it as the second part isn’t finished yet and I didn't want to leave you guys waiting longer. Thanks for reading!

The bed is empty when Lena wakes the next morning and any disappointment at not waking up cuddled with Kara is pushed to the back of her mind as worry sets in when she remembers just why they went to sleep so close.

Lena quickly gets out of bed, hoping Kara is okay. She know last night must have been tough for her, she can’t even imagine what it would be like to lose so much. She doesn’t know where Kara is now though and that’s worrying. What if she had another nightmare and woke up? Lena knows Kara wouldn’t just leave her in the middle of the night, but she wouldn’t be surprised if Kara got out of bed and went to another room just so she wouldn’t wake her.

The thought of Kara alone and upset spurs Lena on, she needs to make sure Kara is okay.

Her search finds Kara in the kitchen, back to her and Lena’s surprised that Kara hasn’t heard her. That’s not a good sign.

“Good morning,” she says quietly, not wanting to startle her.

Kara spins on the spot, slightly too fast for a human and all worry leaves her as she sees what Kara is holding in her hand.

“You’re eating ice cream for breakfast?”

“It’s not my fault, you mentioned it last night! And then all I could think about when I woke up was ice cream and I tried to be patient and wait for you to wake up but you were taking too long.”

_Was she still holding Kara while she waited or had they shifted as they’d slept?_

“Let me guess, you waited less than five minutes?” Kara blushes and Lena’s not sure if it’s because she didn’t spend very long in bed before getting up for ice cream or because she spent too long. “Well, are you going to share?”

Kara’s eyes widen, clearly not expecting the question.

“You want ice cream for breakfast too?”

Lena raises an eyebrow. “Am I not allowed?”

“You once refused to eat a sticky bun for breakfast because it was too unhealthy. I never thought I’d see the day where you’d eat ice cream this early in the morning.”

Lena takes the spoon from Kara’s hand with a laugh and gets her own scoop of ice cream, still much to Kara’s surprise. Ice cream first thing in the morning probably isn’t the best idea but she needs to get the thought of them in bed together out of her mind.

_If it had been the other way around, how long would Lena have lain there waiting for Kara to wake?_

But no, she’s not thinking about that and it doesn’t seem like Kara minds sharing, the grin on her face clearly showing how she feels about that matter.

Kara tries to take the spoon back but Lena holds her hand out of reach. “Nope, no more ice cream before a proper breakfast.”

“What!” Kara gasps. “That’s not fair!”

“Breakfast first, then ice cream.”

“But Lena,” Kara protests but Lena just laughs as she takes the carton.

Lena hesitates for a moment after she puts the ice cream away, they’ve been joking around but she’s still worried after last night. “How are you doing?”

Kara lets out a sigh, the fake pout that she’d had on her face thanks to the lack of ice cream turning into a more serious expression. “I’m sorry-“

“You have nothing to apologise for.”

Kara’s hand shifts up to adjust her glasses but she hasn’t put them on yet this morning so her hand redirects to tuck a loose stand of hair behind her ear. She’s nervous and Lena wishes she knew that she didn’t have to be, not around her. “Thank you,” Kara eventually says. “You really helped me last night.”

“Always, okay?” she says, reaching out to snag Kara’s hand, gives it a squeeze.

Kara smiles, a real smile, even if it’s sad around the edges.

“So, what do you say to pancakes for breakfast? I think we still have some chocolate chips left.”

The sadness is gone as Kara grins and Lena feels herself relax as Kara squeezes her hand in return.

They make breakfast together, using the last of the chocolate chips. A further look through the cupboards after breakfast shows that they should probably go shopping soon. Lena was sure they’d bought enough food to last the week but she should’ve known better, Kara eats even more than she thought she could, and she already thought she could a lot.

They make a list, adding more healthy items to it this time despite Kara’s protests and Lena knows there’s going to be objections to her choices once they’re at the supermarket but that’s a problem for future Lena to deal with.

Lena is about to open the front door, hand reaching for the handle, when a knock at the door startles them both.

Lena looks wide-eyed over at Kara, heart in her throat, as Kara tilts her glasses forward. “It’s a young girl,” she whispers with a frown. “Hide.”

Lena does as Kara says, despite the fact that she’s sure this has nothing to do with Lex, she’s sure he wouldn’t use a child to reach her. Or at least she hopes he wouldn’t. She steps behind the door, out of view.

“Hi, can I help you?” Kara asks and even without being able to see her face, Lena can hear the smile on it.

“Hi…uhhh…”

“Are you okay?”

“I…yeah,” the girl says. “I’m Ava, I live just down the street.” She sounds young, early to mid teens at the latest. “I’m going door to door asking if anyone needs help around their house, as a way to earn some extra pocket money.”

The girl’s voice grows more confident as she talks and Lena feels slightly bad that they have to tell her no, they shouldn’t invite anyone into their home without proper reason just as a safety precaution.

“I’m sorry,” Kara says. “We’ve only just moved in, there’s not a lot to do around the house.”

“Right. Of course. Thank you anyway.”

“We’ll let you know if something comes up,” Kara adds, even if it’s not true.

“Thank you.”

The girl must turn to leave because Kara begins closing the door but a voice stops her.

“Wait!” Ava calls out and Lena sees Kara’s hand tense on the door as Lena’s own heart rate spikes. Before, the girl knocking unexpectedly on the door had given her a fright but now fear strikes through her. Maybe Lex really would use a child.

“Yes?”

“I…” Ava sounds nervous again. “Can I ask you a question?”

Lena can’t see properly but she assumes Kara nods based on the fact the girl starts talking again.

“Are you happy?”

“What?”

Lena frowns, one that matches Kara based on her tone.

“I mean,” Ava pauses again and Lena wishes she could see her, just to get some idea of what this was about. “Is it possible to be happy…” she trails off, another pause. “…with a woman?”

Oh.

It’s the hope in her voice that clues Lena into exactly why she’s asking, it’s the sort of question she’s asked herself in the past.

Lena’s glad she’s here and not in the kitchen so she can hear everything and it’s why she makes a decision that Kara probably won’t like but she does it anyway. She takes a step back before she starts forwards again, stepping out into the doorway like she’s just entered the room.

“Darling, who’s at the door?” Lena asks, taking Kara’s hand and leaning into her side.

“This is Ava,” Kara says, gesturing with her free hand at the girl, who looks to be about fifteen or so. Kara doesn’t miss a beat, and if she’s surprised, she hides it well, continuing like Lena hasn’t just heard their entire conversation. “She’s looking to earn some money by doing jobs for the neighbours.”

Lena glances at Kara and hopes she follows her lead on this one too. “We don’t really have anything to do around the house but we were about to go grocery shopping and we could use some help carrying the bags?” It’s the first thing Lena could think of and she hopes Ava says yes. She wants to show Ava that the answer to her question is most definitely a yes.

Ava looks surprised “Now?”

Lena hopes it’s not a weird thing to ask, hopes it doesn’t scare her off.

“If you’re up for it?”

Ava nods and Lena gives her a warm smile. “Then let’s go.”

As they walk, Ava opens up a bit, they ask her about school and the town and she happily talks about her life.

Lena makes sure to stay close to Kara, hands joined between them the entire way. They’re married, or at least are pretending to anyway, and it’s not like holding hands means anything between them, they’ve done it before, but suddenly it feels even more important with Ava by their side. Because she’s been where Ava is now, that hope in her eyes coming to mind again, and she wants to show Ava not only that they’re happy, but that there’s nothing wrong with liking women either.

“Can we get these?” Kara asks once they’d at the supermarket, holding out three boxes of pop-tarts in Lena’s direction. She knew this was coming, knew Kara would want to buy unhealthy food but she stays strong this time, doesn’t waver under Kara’s pout.

“One,” Lena says. Okay, so she wavers a little, but it’s not her fault Kara is cute. “What’s next on the list?”

Kara pulls a face and her response is a mumble.

Lena can guess what the answer is. “What was that?”

“I said fruit and vegetables.” Lena catches the words this time, even if they’re still a mumble.

“We have to get some healthy things, I can’t go on eating like we have been.”

Kara pouts.

“Will you feel better if I hold your hand?” Lena wiggles her fingers in Kara’s direction, trying to get her to at least smile.

“No,” Kara grumbles but she takes Lena’s hand anyway. Lena glances sideways and catches the smile that’s playing on Kara’s lips and counts that as a win.

Ava pushes the cart ahead of them, she’d insisted since she’s here to help them so they follow her to the fruit and vegetables section where they load up on some healthy food. Lena’s mouth actually waters at the thought.

Once they’ve got all their items, they pay and leave the supermarket, Kara carrying more than Ava and Lena but at least the bags look more even between them this time.

As soon as they get home, Kara wastes no time going into one of the bags and she pulls out a packet of cookies.

“Can you not go an hour without junk food?”

“Nope,” Kara grins, shoving a cookie into her mouth before she holds the bag out for Lena and Ava. Ava takes one but Lena takes the whole bag.

“Come on, Ava,” Lena says with a nod towards the door. “We can go have some cookies will Kate puts away the rest of the groceries.”

“That’s not fair!”

“Better be quick or we’ll eat them all.” Lena says and follows Ava out the door but she shoots a look over her shoulder as she leaves, one that tells Kara not to be _too_ quick.

Lena turns back around to find that Ava hasn’t taken a seat like she’d expected, but she’s wandered over to the fireplace and is looking at the painting and their “wedding” photo above it.

“That’s a nice photo,” she says, turning back to where Lena has taken a seat on the couch. “You two look beautiful, you can really tell how much you two love each other.”

Lena’s breath catches in her throat but Ava doesn’t seem to notice as she turns back to look at the wall. They have Winn’s photoshop skills to thank for the photo, and it’d be alright if that was just it. The ‘beautiful’ part is down to Winn as he was the one that photoshopped them into dresses.

Or someone did, she’s not really sure how Winn set all of this up in such a short amount of time.

But that’s not the part of what Ava said that caught Lena’s attention.

She said _you can really tell how much you two love each other_.

And that has nothing to do with Winn. The picture may be the work of photoshop but the two of them aren’t, Winn had used an actual photo as a base. So the way they’re looking at each other? That’s all them.

Lena knows she’s looking at Kara like she hung the stars in the sky, but the look Kara is sending her in return, paired with the wedding dresses? If Lena didn’t know any better, she’d think it was a real photo of two people on their wedding day.

Lena thought she may have been reading into it, hoping that the way Kara was looking at her the night that Alex had captured that photo meant something more than just friends but after what Ava just said, Lena can’t help but hope that it’s true, that the adoring smile that Kara is sending her in the photo does mean something more.

Ava takes a seat beside her on the couch, seemingly oblivious to Lena’s thoughts as she grabs another cookie. Kara joins them not long later, smiling softly as she takes the other seat next to Lena.

“I didn’t answer your question earlier,” Kara says, her words directed at Ava, breaking Lena from her thoughts of Kara and how the smile she’d just sent her way was alarmingly similar to the one from the photo.

“What question?”

“It is possible to be happy with a woman. I’m happy, very happy. Asking Laura on a date was the best decision I ever made.”

“Really?” That hope is back but this time Lena gets to see the expression that matches. It was totally worth the risk of Lex being behind this for that look.

“Really. My sister is with a woman too actually, and I’ve never seen her as happy as when she’s with her.”

Ava smiles. “I always thought I’d have to hide who I was here, that I couldn’t be myself until I left. I’ve never met anyone who is gay before, at least not that I’m aware of, we’re a very small town. But yesterday my mom was talking about the new couple in town, I didn’t even realise you were gay until I heard your names. And my parents didn’t even care that you were two women, my mom just said you two were cute and my dad said you seemed nice. It gave me hope, that maybe one day I could come out and they’d be okay with it. But so I just had to met you, I wanted to see if it was true. I hope I haven’t been annoying or anything.”

 “Of course not,” Kara says, smiling too. “If you ever need anyone to talk to, about anything, Laura and I are here, okay?”

“Thank you.” God, she just looks so happy and Lena’s glad that they did that, that they’ve helped her. If one thing can come of this bad situation, Lena hopes that they’d helped this little girl. “I should probably get going, my parents will start to wonder where I am.”

“Oh, here,” Lena says, standing and walking over to pick up her purse. “We owe you for your help.”

“Oh no, it’s fine!”

“No, here,” Lena says, pulling out twenty dollars and holding it out to Ava.

Ava takes it, albeit reluctantly, with another smile.

They say their goodbyes and as soon as the door is closed, Kara turns to Lena.

“You shouldn’t have done that.”

There’s no bite to Kara’s words, in fact she still has a smile on her face.

“I know. But I had too.”

“I’m glad you did. I’m glad we could help her.”

“Me too.”

They retake their seats on the couch, mostly so Kara can have more cookies. Lena can’t help but think as she eats, about the young girl and how she’s dealing with being gay so much better than Lena did herself. It’s the thought of Ava, and of Kara next to her, that has words tumbling from her mouth before she can stop them.

“I’m a lesbian.”

Kara doesn’t look surprised by her sudden outburst, she just sends her a smile. Of course she already knows.

“That’s the first time I’ve ever said it out loud,” Lena admits. It feels good to finally say it. Even if she’s known it’s true for a long time, it feels good to finally tell someone. And she’s glad that person is Kara.

Speaking of Kara, she does look surprised this time.

And now that Lena’s talking, she can’t stop, she wants to get it all out, she feels safe and comfortable telling Kara.

“I’ve known since I was young, about Ava’s age actually. But I always tried to deny it, I didn’t want something else to set me apart from the Luthor’s.”  She’d wanted to be a part of their family so badly when she was younger, she wanted a place where she belonged. It was bad enough that she was adopted, in Lillian’s eyes anyway, she didn’t want to give her any other excuse not to love her. “Jack was my last attempt at it, at trying to convince myself, and Lillian, that I was straight. And I loved Jack, I did, but not in the way I wanted to. Being with Jack, it just, I never felt as much for him as I have for women in the past.”

_And I never felt about them the way I feel about you._

Lena’s words stall and Kara reaches out, gives her hand a squeeze and sends her an encouraging smile and it’s enough for Lena to continue.

“You helped me finally admit that I was gay.”

Finally, Kara speaks. “Me?” Even if it is just one word.

Lena nods. “And Alex and Maggie. Seeing them, seeing how happy they were, it made me realise I want that. That I can have that.”

Kara nods and gives her hand another squeeze.

“And you.” Lena says, with a nervous bite to her lip. “I knew that no matter what, you’d accept me. That you’d have no problem if I liked women. You and Alex, Maggie, Winn, everyone, I knew that you’d accept me. And I realised that I could just be myself with all of you, that I didn’t need the Luthor’s approval, I didn’t need them anymore, because I knew that my new family would accept me for who I am.”

“Of course we do.”

Lena is embarrassed by the tears that spring to her eyes, a sudden rush of emotion rushing through her. It feels so good to finally get all this out, and even better that she’s sharing this with Kara.

“Oh, come here,” Kara says, arms reaching out for Lena, and in a complete reversal of last night, Kara’s now the one comforting her.

She’s not used to this, being so open and honest with another person, but if she can be like this with anyone, it’s Kara.

“Thank you,” Lena says as she pulls away, trying to get herself together.

Kara reaches out and brushes a tear from her cheek that Lena had managed to miss herself. Lena leans into the contact, feels grounded by it.

“Always. Thank you for telling me.”

Lena feels like years of weight have been lifted by just this one conversation. She feels open and free and it’s a wonderful feeling.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this chapter was quite hard to write and I’m not entirely sure how I feel about it yet so I’d love to hear your thoughts.
> 
> Tumblr: spaceman-earthgirl
> 
> Edit: I made Ava a couple of years older (now about fifteen) than I originally wrote her after someone pointed out she seemed older than I said she was. It doesn't change the chapter at all.


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> To all those who are reading this, this story literally wouldn’t exist without all of you so thank you!
> 
> (Edit: I made Ava a couple of years older (now about fifteen) than I originally wrote her in the last chapter after someone pointed out she seemed older than I said she was. It doesn't change the chapter or fic at all.)

They sit in silence for a moment after that and Lena doesn’t know what to say now, she’s said so much and she doesn’t know how to follow on from it all.

“I have an idea for what we’re going to do for the rest of the day.”

“What’s that?” Lena asks with a smile. Of course she does.

“We need to celebrate!”

Lena laughs.

“No, I’m serious. This is a big deal and we’re going to celebrate!”

“Ok then, what did you have in mind?”

Kara looks delighted that Lena is open to her ideas.

“Lesbian movies and junk food.”

“I see what’s going on here,” Lena says with another laugh. “You just want more food.”

“Fine,” she draws out the word, looking less happy than before. “Lesbian movies and _healthy_ food.”

“You’d eat healthy food for me?

“I’d do anything for you.”

Kara’s words are light but Lena hears the truth behind them, feels it in the way Kara slides her hand over Lena’s own and gives it a squeeze.

“And I have another idea,” Kara says, jumping up from the couch, surprising Lena. “We can wear those onesies Winn got us, so we’ll be extra comfy for movie watching.”

“Onesies?” Their moment, if you could even call it that, is forgotten as Lena wonders what Winn has done now.

“You haven’t seen them?”

“No.” And she’s definitely going to have to talk to Winn about everything he’s organised for them. One, to ask him how on Earth he got it all done so fast and two, to tell him that he went a bit overboard in certain areas.

“I’ll be right back.” Kara disappears to the bedroom for a moment but is back in a flash, one onesie held up in each hand and a broad grin on her face. “What do you think?”

She thinks it’s too warm to wear a onesie but they do look comfy and how can she say no to that excited look on Kara’s face?

“I think I’ll wear one on one condition,” Lena says, eyes going from one onesie to the other.

“And what’s that?”

“I want the one in your left hand,” Lena says, nodding the one in question.

“What! No, clearly that one’s mine.” Kara glances to the one in her right hand. “And you know I don’t like sharks.”

“But I do like Supergirl,” Lena says with a wink, grinning as Kara laughs.

“You’re really going to make me wear this?” Kara asks, holding out the blue shark onesie in her right hand. It even has a fin and teeth on the hood and Lena thinks she’d look rather adorable in it. Though, to be fair, Kara looks adorable in anything.

“Yes. But how about next time I’ll take the shark and you can have Supergirl?”

Kara’s clearly thinking about it before she holds out the Supergirl onesie for Lena to take. “Deal. Can you imagine if I wore this one day instead of my suit?”

Lena laughs as she takes the onesie from Kara. “Alex would not be very happy if you did but I’m sure Winn would love it.”

“He definitely would. And I’m sure it’d be much more comfortable that the suit. Look, it even has a cape. Maybe I should wear it sometime.”

Lena can only imagine how the public would react if they saw Supergirl flying around in a Supergirl onesie. It does have a cape though. “Maybe I shouldn’t let you wear it if that’s your plan.”

Lena leaves the room with a laugh, as Kara pouts, to get changed and when she returns, she finds Kara already in her own.

“How do I look?” Lena asks.

Kara laughs, an absolutely delighted look on her face. “You look great.” She grins as she steps over to her. Kara’s hand reaches out and traces the sigil on her chest. “Maybe you should keep this one after all.”

Lena stills as she watches Kara trace across her chest. The touch is light, she can’t even feel it, but she’s mesmerized as she watches Kara’s movements.

It hits her a moment later that she’s wearing Kara’s family crest, that this symbol means a lot more to her than just a symbol on her suit. What does it mean that Lena’s wearing it?

“Do you want to swap? You can wear this one if you like?”

Kara looks up, meets her eyes with a soft smile. “No,” she says with a shake of her head. “I like it.”

Lena smiles too. “Well you may not like sharks but you do look very cute dressed as one.”

Kara huffs out a breath. “I’m not cute,” she grumbles but she’s smiling as she says the words.

Lena reaches out and pulls the hood up and over Kara’s head so blonde hair spills out the bottom of the hood while white teeth surround her face. “Yes you are.”

Kara sticks out her tongue.

“Okay, why don’t you pick our first movie and I’ll go get some food?”

Kara grins at the mention of food, no doubt forgetting about the healthy part.

“Yes!”

Lena heads into the kitchen to get some snacks ready while Kara sets up a movie. She pulls a bunch of fruit and vegetables out of the fridge and starts making a platter, stealing pieces of things to eat as she chops them. It’s been too long since they’ve eaten healthy.

By the time she’s done, she walks back into the living room to find a movie ready to go on the screen and she places their snacks down on the coffee table.

Kara eyes the plate with disgust as she reaches out and picks up a slice of apple. She gingerly takes a bit, chewing slowly before she swallows with a gulp. “I suppose it’s not that bad,” she says before she carefully places the other half in her mouth, chewing and swallowing again like she’d rather be eating anything else.

“Does that mean you don’t want the chocolate, oreos and potato chips I got for you then?”

Kara’s eyes widen. “Where?”

Lena laughs at the excitement on her face and stands to retrieve that snacks she’d left out in the kitchen, knowing Kara wouldn’t want to eat what she’d made. Kara had made an effort though and Lena definitely appreciates it.

She sets down the new snacks and Kara immediately goes for the oreos, tearing the packet open and shoving a whole one into her mouth. “Thanks,” she grins around the mouthful.

“Anything for you,” Lena says with a nudge to Kara’s arm and they both know she means the words too.

“Have you seen Imagine Me and You? I thought that’d be a good movie to start with.”

“I have.”

Kara deflates under her answer.

“But I have absolutely no problems watching it again.”

Kara bites her lip. “Are you sure? We can pick something you haven’t seen.”

“I’m sure.”

Kara smiles and presses play. She pulls her knees up against her chest, chin resting on them, as she grins excitedly at the screen as the movie begins.

The first movie bleeds into the second, then the third, and the only time they leave the couch for the rest of the day is for more snacks and dinner.

Lena cooks stir fry, come dinner time, and Kara doesn’t even complain about the amount of vegetables in it. After that, they return to the couch with more snacks and ice cream and Lena’s not even sure what movie number they’re up to now. She’s seen them all, and so has Kara, but neither of them care as Kara starts the next movie.

Lena’s only truly aware of how late it is when she feels Kara’s head fall against her shoulder and she knows that they should go to bed.

Except Kara is warm against her side so all she does instead is adjust so Kara will be more comfortable before she turns her attention back to the screen. Sometime during the next movie, she drifts off to sleep.

xxx

Lena feels movement around her, too tired to fully process what’s happening.

“Sorry, go back to sleep,” a warm voice from above her says and so she does just that.

It doesn’t last long though and she blinks back into consciousness as there’s more movement and she realises she’s in bed. Didn’t they fall asleep on the couch?

“Kara?”

“Go back to sleep,” Kara says again, this time whispered from the other side of the bed.

Which is too far way for Lena’s liking so she shuffles closer.

Kara’s so warm as she settles pressed against her and Lena’s sleep-addled brain finally catches up to the fact that they’re in bed now but she’d been on the couch before and she has no memory of walking here. Except she does have a vague memory of how they got here.

“Did you carry me?”

“I did,” Kara says and Lena can feel as well as hear her laugh.

“You’re so strong,” Lena says, hand sliding down Kara’s arm even as sleep starts to claim her again, the warmth from Kara’s body seeping into her, making it very hard to stay awake.

“Sleep,” Kara whispers and she sounds amused but Lena has no time to wonder about that as she drifts off to sleep.

xxx

Lena knows she’s in trouble as soon as she wakes to find her head pillowed on a firm shoulder, an arm thrown across Kara’s stomach and their legs tangled. She also knows that she’s the reason they’re so close. Curse her lack of control while half asleep.

Lena slips her arm over Kara’s stomach, slides backwards slowly in an attempt to save herself from more embarrassment. She’s barely extracted herself when Kara stirs beside her and bright blue eyes blink open.

“Morning, Supergirl,” Kara says softly from beside her, an amused yet still sleepy smile on her face. “Sleep well?

Lena laughs at the nickname before the rest of Kara’s words catch up to her. She sure slept well but she’s not sure if Kara did. Did she make her uncomfortable by cuddling so close? “I’m sorry, for last night.”

Kara frowns. “What are you sorry for?”

“For…” Lena gestures between them. “Invading your personal space. I know we’re sharing a bed but I should still keep to my own side.”

Kara shakes her head and scoots a bit closer, closing some of the distance Lena had put between them. “You have nothing to be sorry for. In fact, I quite like cuddling with you.”

Lena feels her cheeks heat up.

“We’re best friends, remember? And I’m very lucky my best friend gives the best hugs, hugs made even better when she looks adorable wearing a onesie.”

Lena’s stuck between wanting to groan at the fact that Kara has just brought up the fact that they’re just friends when Lena wishes they were so much more, and being giddy at the fact that Kara just called her adorable.

The two feelings don’t really go well together and Lena just ends up laughing instead. Laughing at herself or Kara, she’s not sure, because falling for your best friend is certainly something you have to laugh at so you don’t cry instead.

“Don’t forget, you still look cute too.”

Kara sticks out her tongue in response.

“Do you really think I’m strong?” Kara asks, a playful glint in her eyes.

Oh, God, she did do that, didn’t she?

Lena rolls her eyes. “You’re Supergirl, of course you are.”

Kara grins. “Okay, why don’t you go shower while I go make us breakfast?”

“You’re going to make us breakfast?”

“You say that like you think I can’t cook.”

She knows Kara can cook, she just also knows what type of food Kara likes to cook and there’s no doubt in Lena’s mind what breakfast will be.

“I thought we were going to start eating healthier?”

Kara pouts. “We are. Trust me?”

Lena can’t say no to that face.

She reluctantly leaves the bed to go and get ready for the day, even if she doesn’t know what they’re going to be doing.

When Lena gets out of the shower, she can hear Kara moving around in the kitchen but no smell of cooking bacon or pancakes hits her senses, just the smell of coffee. She quickly selects something that’d be suitable for staying in or going out, a sleeveless green blouse and a pair of jeans, eager to get to the kitchen and see what Kara has done.

Lena stops in the doorway, eyes wide, as she takes in the spread across the kitchen table. Kara looks up and her eyes go wide too and Lena’s not really sure what that’s about, her mind has no room to process anything but the sight in front of her.

“We’re having cereal for breakfast?”

Lena’s words snap Kara out of whatever’s going on in her mind.

“Did you want something else?” Kara quickly stands. “I can make you anything you want, I just thought you’d want this.”

“No!” Lena quickly says before Kara can start to spiral. While she’s adorable when she rambles, it’s not needed now. “No, this is perfect.”

Kara stills. “It is?”

“Of course it is,” Lena says. There’s a bowl, a glass of orange juice and a cup of coffee all sitting at her place at the table. In front of that there’s a box of lucky charms, a box of muesli and a bowl of sliced fruit. The lucky charms are obviously for Kara, but the rest? She’s done for her. An actual healthy breakfast for a change. “You even cut up some fruit?”

Kara nods. “I told you we could eat healthier.”

Lena smiles. “Thank you.” She pauses. “Are lucky charms really that healthy though?”

“Fine, you can eat healthier,” Kara says with a grin. “And I’ll continue to eat my unhealthy food.”

Lena laughs. “I’ll take it.”

They fall into silence as Lena pours herself a bowl of cereal and starts eating, Kara starting on her second bowl of cereal herself.

“I like that shirt on you,” Kara says not long later, breaking the comfortable silence that had settled around them.

Lena’s cheeks go red. “Thank you.” Kara’s still wearing her onesie and if Lena tried to compliment her on that, she’d probably just end up calling her cute again. But speaking of clothes. “Winn really picked some interesting things for our wardrobe.”

Kara grins. “He did but I like it.”

Lena’s not sure if she’s talking about the shirt again or the clothes in general. She clears her throat. “So, do we have any plans for today?”

“Actually, I wanted to talk to you about that. I had an idea.”

Lena waits patiently for her to continue.

“Remember the other night Nicole said her husband has been away for two weeks?”

Lena nods, even if she has no idea what that has to do with them.

“Well, he’s back this evening, and from the sounds of it, her kids are pretty excited and I think they’re slowly driving her insane.”

“So you want to go visit? See if there’s anything we can do?”

Kara’s face lights up. “Yeah, can we?”

Lena smiles. “Of course. Although, we better come up with a better excuse to visit than you used your super hearing and heard she might need some company, or at least a distraction for her kids.”

“Supergirl turning up would be a pretty good distraction.”

Lena laughs. “Don’t even joke about that.”

“I was talking about you,” Kara says with a wink.

Lena blushes again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Even though this fic was inspired by Katie in Slasher, I hadn’t actually seen it. But I started watching it yesterday and [this outfit](http://spaceman-earthgirl.tumblr.com/post/174622103832) is the reason Kara was so distracted when Lena turned up for breakfast.
> 
> Tumblr: spaceman-earthgirl


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to all those still with me on this fic, I really appreciate all the kudos and lovely comments. Sorry for the wait, I'm going to try and focus more on this fic than others so there'll be less of a wait between chapters from now on.

Last week if you’d told Lena she’d wake up next cuddled with Kara this morning, she’d have said you were crazy. If you’d said that Kara would then make her breakfast (like an actual breakfast, with cereal) she would’ve asked if something was wrong with you. And if you’d then told her that she’d find herself sitting in a young woman’s home, her 5 year old daughter tugging at her shirt, wanting to show her a picture. Well, she probably would’ve just left the conversation.

But here she is, sitting on Nicole’s couch, Kara’s hand warm in hers, as Nicole’s daughter, Hayley, asks her to look at the picture she’s just drawn.

Lena smiles at the girl who beams right back, before she rushes off to draw something else and Lena’s drawn back into the conversation.

“Is your husband away often?”

“No, he usually works from home. But his boss wanted him on site so he had to go away for a couple of weeks.”

“I don’t know how you’ve done it,” Kara says, tilting her head at Lena, giving her hand a squeeze. “I hate being away from Le-Laura for more than a day.”

Lena doesn’t miss Kara’s slip up, the way she almost said her name and she can’t help but wonder if there’s some truth to Kara’s words beyond their cover. She can’t actually think of a time where they have gone a day without seeing each other, or having some contact at least, not in the last year at least, since they’ve grown close. Kara would drop by her office with lunch or dinner, to make sure she’d eaten and to see her. Lena would do the same, stop by CatCo with something sweet just so she could see Kara’s smile. They’d have movie nights and brunches, game nights and nights where they’d just sit and do their work together.

And then there were the days where they were both too busy to see each other, rare enough that they never went two days without some contact. On those days, they’d still text, still call, still have contact with each other, something that she hadn’t even realised how much she’d relied on until right now.

She can’t imagine what it would’ve been like if she’d come to this town on her own.

Nicole smiles at them. “It’s been hard, not just because I’ve had the kids alone but because I miss him. We’ve talked every day since he’s been gone but I’m really glad he’ll be home soon.”

Neither of them get a chance to reply as Noah, Nicole’s eldest, who’s seven, interrupts. “Can we go to the park?”

“We can go this afternoon, after Kate and Laura are gone, okay?”

His eyes turn big and sad. “Can’t we go now?”

“We have visitors. Why don’t you go and do some drawing with Hayley?”

She feels bad for depriving him of a trip to the park this morning, and apparently so does Kara.

“Don’t let us stop you from taking your kids to the park.”

Nicole shoots Kara a questioning look.

“We could come with you, if you like?”

Noah seems excited by the idea, as does Hayley who must’ve been listening in.

“Please, Mom, can we go?” “Please can Kate and Laura come too?”

“Really?” Nicole asks, looking between the two of them.

“Of course, it’ll be fun.”

Noah and Hayley cheer and Lena feels herself smiling at their excitement.

“Okay, go get your shoes on then we can go,” Nicole says and both kids run out of the room in excitement.

Nicole picks Oliver up from where he’s been playing with some toys on the ground but a loud crash draws their attention to the hallway the older two kids have just vanished down. Lena sees Kara tilt her glasses and she knows she’s looking to see if they’re okay. When Kara doesn’t immediately rush after them, she knows they’re both fine.

“Can you take him?” Nicole asks, holding out Oliver towards Kara. “I should go and check on them.”

Kara stiffens and Lena knows that Nicole doesn’t notice, it’s subtle, Lena herself only does because they’re still holding hands. She’s not entirely sure why Kara’s had that reaction but she knows it’s to do with Oliver.

“Let me,” Lena says, releasing Kara’s hand and holding out her own arms without really thinking about what she’s doing. Nicole doesn’t seem to mind as she transfers Oliver into her arms instead before she quickly leaves the room too.

Now Lena has a child in her arms, a very small one, but at least he doesn’t seem worried that someone new is holding him. She settles him on her hip, just like she’d seen Nicole do, but she still feels awkward, unsure, as she holds him to her side.

“Are you okay?” Lena asks quietly, bouncing slightly in the hopes it’ll keep Oliver calm. She’s sure she’s seen people bounce toddler’s on their hip before?

“Yeah…I…sorry…” Kara says, her eyes on Oliver. She looks back up to meet Lena’s eyes. “I haven’t…not since Kal. I just…” She pauses and Lena waits patiently for her to find her words. “Babies are so small, what if I hurt him? I wasn’t as strong when I held Kal.”

Oh. She’s worried about her strength, not the fact that he’s a baby. Well, maybe partly the fact that he’s a baby, but she’s mostly worried about hurting him with her super strength.

Lena shifts Oliver so he’s secure in one arm then holds out her hand towards Kara. Kara looks confused but she takes it again, threads their fingers together.

“See?” Lena says, giving Kara’s hand a gentle squeeze which Kara returns. “You’re in complete control of your strength. Not once have I ever been scared that you’ll hurt me, I’ve always trusted you. I’ve literally slept in your arms and never once been afraid you’ll hurt me.”

Both women blush but Lena gets her point across.

 “I…” Kara smiles. “Thank you.”

Lena squeezes her hand again. “Anytime.”

“Are you okay? I can hear your heart beating really fast.”

“I’m terrified,” Lena admits with a laugh.

“Thank you,” Kara repeats. “And you’re doing great then,” she says, reaching out tentatively to tickle Oliver’s stomach. The baby giggles, and it’s cute, but the beaming smile Kara gives him in response is even cuter.

“Is this even how you hold a child? I’ve never held one before.”

Kara does look surprised by that. “Really?”

She nods, keeping up the gentle bouncing as Oliver twists his fingers in her hair, keeping himself thankfully occupied.

“Do you want me to take him?”

Lena considers it for a moment but she’s okay. And besides, if anything were to happen, Kara is right there with her.

“Thanks,” Nicole says, rushing back into the room, two children in tow. She goes to the fridge and pulls out a few things, puts them in a bag before she comes back over to Lena and takes the child from her arms.

After that, it seems like everyone’s all over the place as Nicole gets Oliver in his stroller and she herds the other two kids out the door. They run ahead while Lena and Kara follow with Nicole and Oliver and it’s a few short blocks of walking before they reach the park. She hadn’t even known it was here, but since it’s in the opposite direction to the main street, it makes sense they hadn’t seen it yet.

It’s a small park, with a few tress scattered around the edge, a playground off to the side, and a patch of grass in the middle large enough to kick a ball around on. And that’s exactly what Noah and Hayley do, they grab a ball out from under the stroller and then they’re off, running back and forth across the grass as they kick the ball about, letting out some of their excited energy in the process.

She and Kara follow Nicole over to the playground instead, where Nicole places Oliver in one of the swings and he seems content to just swing back and forth while the adults watch the other kids.

“You’ve been here almost a week now, how are finding living here? Must be a change from big city life?”

“It’s quiet,” Kara laughs, with a side glance at Lena like they’re sharing some inside joke. It takes Lena a moment to get it, how much quieter it actually must be here for Kara. She’d never really thought about it before, how much Kara must be able to hear with her super hearing, how different it would be living in a place like this as opposed the a heavily populated city.

“It’s good,” Lena adds. “Our lives had been so busy recently, it’s nice to be taking a break, to actually get to spend some proper time together.” She realises a moment too late that she’s answered as Lena, not Laura, but at least neither Kara nor Nicole know that.

Lena feels Kara’s hand slip into hers again, it feeling more and more natural each time it happens. She’s really not sure how she’s supposed to go back to life in National City, with Kara as just her friend, once all this is over.

Their conversation is interrupted when Noah and Hayley come running over to see them.

“Mom, come play soccer with us!”

Nicole tells them she has to watch Oliver so their attention quickly switches to her and Kara.

“Can you come play with us?” Noah asks, quieter this time.

Lena looks almost helplessly at Kara. The other day, she’d thought it could be a good idea to go for a run with Kara, to give them something to do, but after seeing the kids running around, actually thinking about running herself, she definitely thinks going for a walk in the bush somewhere is a much better idea.

“Of course,” Kara grins, darting forward and it’s her turn to save Lena as she kicks the ball away from them, two kids chasing after it as they forget all about Lena playing too.

She and Nicole watch as Kara scoops up Hayley into her arms, kicking the ball further away as both kids laugh. Lena’s glad to see her fear of her strength hurting others is gone too.

“She’s good with kids,” Nicole points out as they watch Kara pick Noah up next as Hayley kicks the ball, their laughter carrying across the field. “But I suppose you two are both teachers for a reason.”

Lena nods, she’d almost forgotten that part of their fake life.

“Do you two plan on having any kids of your own?”

Lena startles at the question, the same one that Mary had asked them and they’re no closer to an answer, it’s not something they’ve talked about. But she supposes it’s not her and Kara’s answer that matters, it’s Laura’s and Kate’s.

“One day, hopefully,” Lena says and she finds that she means it because no matter what, whether Kara is by her side as her wife or her friend, she knows she’d be there for her if she had kids of her own. “But that’s a while off yet,” Lena says, trying to shake the image of a baby with bright blue eyes and dark hair from her mind (which makes no sense because a child couldn’t biologically be both of theirs but she can’t help what her mind comes up with). “Maybe we’ll get a dog first.”

“My kids would absolutely love it if you two got a dog. We were going to get one ourselves but then this one surprised us instead,” Nicole says, nodding her head at Oliver who is babbling away to himself on the swing. “Maybe when he’s a bit older.”

Lena laughs as they both watch Kara jog back up to them. She really is in control of her powers, Lena can see it in the effortless way she maintains a human speed when Lena knows she could run much, _much_ faster.

“Having fun?”

Kara grins. “Yes. But I’d have more fun if you joined us.”

Lena shakes her head. “Not going to happen.”

“Please,” Kara says and Lena knows it’s coming before it even happens and yep, there she goes. Kara sticks her lip out, her eyes widening imploringly. Damn she looks cute, but not cute enough to get Lena to run.

“No.”

Kara’s eyes widen even more and Lena could easily let herself get lost in a sea of blue.

But she’s not going to, not this time.

Kara is well aware that this look usually works on Lena, it’s kind of embarrassing how easy one look from Kara can make her fold, make her change her mind about what takeout she wants or what movie they’re going to watch, but running is where she draws the line.

“That’s not going to work this time,” Lena says, reaching out and lightly tapping Kara’s cheek with her hand.

She watches Kara deflate in front of her, pout firmly set on her lips in a last ditch attempt at what Alex calls her “kicked puppy” look.

“Go have fun with the kids, I’ll watch you from here.”

“You’re missing out,” Kara says but a smile is back on her face as she turns and runs off again and she hears twin squeals as Kara starts chasing after Noah and Hayley.

“You two are cute,” Nicole says, and Lena almost startles, had almost forgotten she was there, had forgotten they weren’t alone. Her cheeks go red both at Nicole’s words and what she’d just witnessed.

“Don’t be embarrassed,” Nicole continues with a laugh. “I can tell how in love the two of you are, it’s rather adorable actually, in a sickening sort of way.”

Nicole bumps her shoulder playfully and that does startle her, the familiarity behind the gesture. It’s friendly and Lena’s not used to that, not used to people (besides Kara) being so open with her from the beginning of their relationship. It’s nice though, too, nice that the word _Luthor_ isn’t being thrown around, nice that she knows that Nicole is being genuine, nice that she’s actually made a friend here by just being herself.

Well, 90% herself.

“Thanks?” Lena says but it sounds like more or a question and Nicole laughs again.

(She decidedly does not think about the fact that Nicole just said she could tell that they’re in love).

They stand and watch the kids for a while, talking about random things as they do. It really is nice to just be able to do this, to talk to someone without her name in the back of her mind. She doesn’t get many normal conversations, ones that involve kids and what she likes to do in her free time.

(There’s more lying on her part but it surprises  her how much of what she’s saying is truthful too).

“Do you kids want a snack?” Nicole calls out a while later, when they can both see the kids are starting to tire, even if Kara isn’t. They looked like they’d been having a great time though.

Her words definitely get all three of their attention as they come running across the field and Lena has to use a great deal of self control to not laugh at Kara, who’s obviously excited by the mention of food, and who Lena can tell is consciously running slower as to not give away her powers.

Lena really has to try not to laugh when Nicole pulls out the snacks and she sees the look of utter devastation on Kara’s face when she realises it’s all cut up pieces of fruit.

Lena accepts an apple slice but Kara refuses with a polite smile.

Kara looks ecstatic when Nicole pulls out some chocolate for the kids to share and Lena does laugh at that, which earns her a sheepish grin from Kara.

After that, the kids all have a play on the playground, something that Kara looks disappointed that she’s too big for, before it’s time to leave.

Everyone’s definitely subdued as they walk back to the house, the kids having used all their excited energy playing with Kara.

“Thank you for coming,” Nicole says as they reach the house. “I know the kids had fun and I definitely appreciated the company. Do you want to stay for lunch?”

Lena sees the fear flash through Kara’s eyes and she steps in again. “Thank you but we already have lunch for us at home.”

Lena feels Kara’s relief as she leans into her side in silent thanks.

“Thank you for playing with us,” Hayley pipes up, realising they’re about to leave.

“Yeah,” Noah adds. “But I’m still faster than you,” he says, a grin on his little face as he looks at Kara.

“Maybe, but I’m stronger,” Kara says with a wink and Noah laughs.

It’s amazing to watch Kara with these kids, how at ease she is and how instantly they’ve warmed to her. She really would make a good mother.

(Dark hair and blue eyes flash through her mind again but she pushes the thought away).

Both of the older kids hug Kara goodbye and Lena’s surprised when they both turn and give her a hug too. Then Nicole gives them both a hug and Lena’s not sure she’s been hugged this much ever. She’s really not used to hugs, from anyone except Kara anyway (and more recently Alex and Winn).

“Bye,” Kara says, waving at Oliver who’s still happily in his stroller and Lena waves too as he waves back.

Nicole thanks them both again, tells them they’re more than welcome to stop by anytime and that they’ll have to come over for dinner some time to meet her husband too. They head back to their house after that, hand in hand again and Lena thinks they’ve had a pretty great morning.

Kara makes a beeline for the couch as soon as they step inside. She kicks off her shoes and flops unceremoniously onto the seat, smile on her face as she basks in the sunlight streaming through the window.

“I guess I’m making lunch then,” Lena says, pulling her eyes from Kara when she realises she’s been staring too long. She looks like she’s going to fall asleep.

“I can help,” Kara says, opening her eyes from where they’d slipped closed and sitting up.

“You rest, you’ve had a more strenuous morning than me,” she says, patting Kara’s shoulder as she walks past. They both know full well that the exercise she’d done this morning would in no way tire her out but Kara did make her breakfast so Lena thinks it’s pretty fair. Kara seems to think so too as she settles back into the sunlight, eyes falling closed again.

Lena makes a mountain of food, well versed in feeding a hungry Kryptonian now and when she returns, she finds Kara still in the same position she’d been before.

 _Is she asleep?_ Lena thinks. It looks like she might be, her breathing appears even and she didn’t stir as Lena had entered the room. Lena takes a moment as her eyes track over Kara’s face, the way it shines in the early afternoon sun, the way her mouth sits in a small smile as the rest of her face is relaxed. She looks beautiful and Lena really doesn’t have the heart to wake her. A masterpiece like that shouldn’t be disturbed, especially when she knows that Kara is still catching up on her sleep from watching over Lena so closely.

Lena startles when Kara’s eyes blink open and a sleepy smile spreads across her face.

“I thought you were asleep.”

“Lena,” Kara says, a serious expression on her face as she stands and closes the small distance between them. She looks so serious that Lena feels her heartbeat quicken as she worries that something has happened. “There is something you need to know, something about me that I thought you knew but recent evidence suggests you don’t.”

Lena frowns. “What is it?”

The switch is instant as Kara’s whole face changes, a grin spreading wide and brilliant across it. “You must know that you should always wake me up when food is involved.”

Lena huffs out a breath, shaking her head at Kara who just grins in return.

They eat the lunch that Lena prepared and then Kara insists on doing the dishes so Lena retreats to the lounge this time, selects a book from the bookshelf before she takes a seat on the couch, enjoying the sun like Kara had before.

Kara joins her not five minutes later, so it’s obvious she’d used her speed to clean up. She doesn’t say anything though as she selects her own book and takes a seat on the opposite end of the couch.

Out of the corner of her eye, every few minutes, Lena sees Kara shift slightly. First, so her back is against the armrest and then ever so slowly she inches down, until her head is resting on the armrest instead, her back on the couch and her knees tucked up, leaving not much space between them.

Kara’s legs slip slowly out then and Lena watches, never reacting, until Kara’s feet are pressed against her thigh. It isn’t until Kara shifts again, removing her feet from where they’re pressed against Lena, placing them in her lap, that Lena turns to face Kara with a quirk of her eyebrow in question.

“What?” Kara says, taking her own eyes away from her book for the first time too. “I want to lie down and this is the only couch. Plus, you’re comfy.”

“I may be comfy but do you think I want your smelly feet in my lap?”

Kara gasps. “My feet are not smelly!”

“Whatever you say, darling,” Lena says, patting Kara’s socked feet before she turns her attention back to her book. She doesn’t really mind Kara’s feet in her lap, in fact it’s kind of…intimate? That’s the wrong word but it seems to fit too. It shows how close they are, how comfortable they are, with each other.

But also it’s fun to tease Kara too.

A moment later Kara removes her feet and suddenly Lena regrets the teasing,  misses the contact immediately.

Except that doesn’t last long as Kara sits up on the couch, swivels her body around and lies back down, this time with her feet stretched away from her and her head pillowed on Lena’s thighs instead.

“Better?” Kara asks, grinning up at her from her lap. Kara’s hair is spread out across her thighs, her head warm and firm against her thigh and suddenly _this_ is intimate.

Lena wills her heart to stop beating so fast as she looks down at Kara _in her lap._ “Much better,” she says with a smile and their eyes hold for a second before Kara turns her attention back to her book.

Lena has to adjust her own book so she can still read with Kara in this new position but Lena finds she doesn’t mind that at all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm not entirely sure how I feel about this chapter but I wanted to have a chapter with supercorp and kids (plus more soft supercorp of course) and this is what happened. I'd love to hear your thoughts.
> 
> Tumblr: spaceman-earthgirl


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all for the wonderful comments, I felt extra inspired so I wrote this chapter and have even started on the next one too! Be warned, there's lots of fluff coming up.

“Lena?

“ _Lena_?”

Lena stirs to the sound of Kara’s voice and she blinks her eyes open sleepily to look at the woman lying next to her.

“Hmmm?” Lena hums, more asleep than awake.

She feels a shake to her shoulder, realises she’s shut her eyes again  and forces them open.

“Lena, are you awake?”

“Mmhmm,” Lena hums again. “Is everything okay?” she asks as her mind becomes clearer and worry starts to seep in as she wonders why Kara has woken her.

“Yeah. I had an idea for what we can do today and I wanted to tell you.”

Lena makes a great effort to keep her eyes open this time and she’s glad she does because Kara is smiling brilliantly at her from the pillow next to hers and it would’ve been a shame to miss this.

“What?” she asks, her tired mind trying to process her words as well as take in how blue Kara’s eyes look right now, how soft her lips look and how her blonde hair is loose around her face and just asking for Lena to reach out and brush it behind her ear.

“I thought we could have a baking day.”

Those words do sink in and it only takes Lena a moment to realise Kara has woken her because she’s impatient and thinking with her stomach.

Lena groans as she tries not to smile, her eyes slipping closed again. “Are you telling me you woke me up for nothing?”

“Not nothing, baking!”

Lena opens her eyes again because she needs to see the face that matches that imploring tone. She huffs out a breath. “And you couldn’t wait half an hour for me to wake up to tell me that?”

Kara sticks her lip out as Lena’s eyes slip closed again. It’s too early for this, she’s warm and she’s comfortable and if there’s no emergency, she’s going back to sleep.

“But, Lena, _baking_ ,” Kara says, but it’s more halfhearted now.

“Give me half an hour more sleep?” Lena mumbles. “And then we can do some baking?”

“Okay,” Kara agrees. “Sorry for waking you.”

Lena feels the bed dip and lips press against her forehead and that’s the last thing she remembers before she falls back asleep.

xxx

By the time Lena makes it into the kitchen, freshly showered, it’s almost an hour after Kara had woken her. She’s met with the same spread of breakfast as yesterday and a sheepish looking Kara.

“Sorry for waking you,” Kara says and Lena has vague memories of hearing that earlier.

Lena smiles. “I suppose I can forgive you since you made breakfast again.”

“Does that means it’s still a yes to the baking?”

“You want to spend the day baking?”

“Yes!” Kara grins. “Think of how much fun we can have! I’ve been looking up recipes and we can make cupcakes and cake and some pies and I have several of Eliza’s recipe’s we can try out. Imagine all the food!”

Lena can’t help but smile at how genuinely excited Kara is and she feels some of that excitement growing in her too.

“I suppose we’ll need to go shopping again today for ingredients then.”

Kara fist punches the air and Lena, once again, thinks about how adorable her best friend is.

After breakfast (Kara using her speed to clean up to save time) they head to the supermarket, deciding to take the car this time because Lena really isn’t sure how much Kara is hoping to buy today.

Kara seems excited by the prospect of driving too so Lena let’s her, figuring if she’s not very good (because she really doesn’t know, but it’s something else she’s about to find out about her), Lena can always drive on the way home.

They make it to the supermarket in one piece although Lena can tell that Kara doesn’t get the opportunity to drive too often. But that’s enough for Lena to agree to let Kara drive home too.

Lena was right to suggest the car, because Kara selects so many ingredients that Lena’s not sure, not only about how they’re going to be able to make enough food to use them all, but how they’re going to be able to eat it all either.

By the time they get everything back to the house and have it all spread out in the kitchen, Lena’s a little intimidated by the prospect of how much they’re going to make.

“What do you want to make first?” Kara asks, basically vibrating with excitement.

“Why don’t we start simple with a chocolate cake?”

They work seamlessly as the move around the kitchen together, measuring ingredients and mixing the cake mixture and in no time at all, their first cake is in the oven and a delicious smell permeates the room.

(Kara has a bit of flour smudged on the tip of her nose and it’s adorable).

“Wait! I want to clean the bowl!” Kara says as Lena’s goes to put the dirty cake bowl in the sink and turn on the tap so they can get ready to make their next food item.

Lena’s confused as to why Kara wants to do it when she’s perfectly capable herself until she sees Kara grab a spoon from the cutlery drawer and use it to scoop the remaining cake mixture from the bowl, into her mouth.

“Really?”

“It’s _so_ good.” Kara says as she takes another scoop from the edge of the bowl and holds it out towards Lena. “Do you want to try some?”

Lena laughs. “No thank you.”

Cupcakes are next on the list and they have three trays ready to put in the oven by the time the cake is cooked. Lena turns to ask Kara what she wants to cook next when a puff of white powder hits her chest.

It’s flour.

It really shouldn’t surprise her that Kara has just thrown flour at her.

“Was that necessary?” Lena asks, eyebrow raised in Kara’s direction.

“Yes. You looked too clean, part of baking is getting messy and covered in ingredients,” Kara says with a grin.

Lena brushes her hand down her shirt, most of the flour falling to make a mess on the floor instead, but it’s still clearly visible across her shirt too. “I don’t think that’s true but isn’t that supposed to happen while actually baking?”

Kara waves her hand. “Details.”

Lena shakes her head as she turns back to the ingredients in front of her. Or at least that’s what she makes it look like she’s doing anyway. She waits for Kara to look away too before she calls her name, gaining her attention again.

“Kara?”

As soon as Kara turns, Lena strikes, tossing her own handful of flour at Kara, but at her face instead.

Kara splutters, a white puff of powder coming from her lips as Kara coughs. Lena can’t handle it and bursts out laughing, only made worse by the indignant look on Kara’s face.

She deserves it.

“Lena,” Kara pouts, pulling off her glasses which were also covered in Lena’s attack. There’s white rings around Kara’s eyes, circles free of flour that were protected by the glasses, and that only makes Lena laugh harder.

“Relax, you’re fine. I’m sure flour isn’t going to take down the great Supergirl.”

Kara sticks out her tongue and it’s a mistake as she grimaces when she gets flour on it.

“Here,” Lena says, stepping towards her. She reaches out and brushes the flour from Kara’s face. She brushes her fingers down Kara’s cheeks, across her chin, she wipes across Kara’s forehead and Kara’s eyes close to stop any flour falling in them. Lena’s fingers trail gently down the side of Kara’s face, her skin soft despite the flour, and her palms settle on her cheeks, thumbs brushing the skin under Kara’s eyes. “There, better?”

Lena swallows thickly when Kara’s eyes open and they’re so goddamn _blue_ as they stare back at her and it’s only then that she realises just how close they’re standing together.

One of her hands reaches up, brushes her hand through Kara’s hair to dislodge more flour. She needs a distraction, something to stop her doing something stupid like just kissing her.

Kara’s hair is soft too, just like she knew it would be. Yesterday, when they’d been on the couch, Kara’s head in her lap, it had been a real test of her self control not to just reach down and run her hands through Kara’s hair. Several times she’d almost done it, almost reached down and threaded her fingers through blonde hair, almost let her fingers run against Kara’s scalp and hope her friend didn’t find it weird. But each time she’d talked herself out of it, too scared to take a small leap incase Kara didn’t like it.

“Thank you,” Kara says quietly, a soft smile on her lips and that really isn’t helping the situation. Lena _really_ wants to kiss her. “But just know that I’m going to get you back for that.”

“Is that so?” Lena asks, eyebrow raised again, slipping back into the easy teasing between them.

Kara nods, her head moving Lena’s hand and she realises her hand is still cupping Kara’s cheek. She drops her hand, wipes them both on her jeans to remove any excess flour and to try and forget the feeling of Kara’s cheek under her palm.

They turn back to the ingredients, and Lena agrees to Kara’s suggestion that they make chocolate brownie, one of Eliza’s recipes.

Lena’s weary though as she watches Kara out of the corner of her eye. She has no doubt that Kara’s going to try and get her back, she just doesn’t know what she’s going to do.

Despite having her eyes on Kara, she still doesn’t see it coming thanks to Kara’s speed.

One moment, they’re standing side by side, then next, Kara’s hand is on top of her head and there’s egg running through Lena’s hair and down the side of her face.

Flour was one thing but an egg!

“Oh my God, Kara!”

“Yes, dear?” Kara asks with a grin and she looks so smug that Lena has to get her back immediately.

Lena lunges for the eggs but is too slow, anyone would be faced with Kara’s super speed. Kara holds the carton above her head, grinning down at Lena and she curses the height difference between them.

But that doesn’t stop Lena, instead she runs her hand through her hair, feels broken shell and sticky goo transfer to her hand. She reaches out, makes it look like she’s going for the eggs again, but switches at the last moment, and wipes her hand down Kara’s cheek instead.

Kara jumps back at the contact, egg smeared across her cheek but she’s not paying enough attention to the eggs in her hand now and that’s when Lena strikes, tries to grab them from Kara’s hands.

Lena manages to take the carton but it slips from her grip, falling and hitting the floor with less noise than she’d expected.

Both burst out laughing at the mess across the floor, eggs oozing from cracked shells, slowly making the floor worse.

“That was your fault!” Kara exclaims, a delighted grin on her face. Lena knows she could’ve used her speed to save them but she’s glad Kara didn’t, it’s much funnier this way, even if it is a slight waste.

“You started it,” Lena counters with a laugh. She reaches up to feel the mess in her hair again. “This really is gross.”

“I’m sorry,” Kara says though she looks anything but sorry. “Why don’t you go and have a shower, wash that mess out of your hair before it goes hard and I’ll clean up here. Then we can continue baking?”

“And you won’t throw more food at me once I’m all nice and clean again?”

Kara winks. “I make no promises.”

Lena has a quick shower and returns to the kitchen to find it spotless and the cupcakes out of the oven and cooling beside their first cake.

Next is chocolate brownie and then they make multiple different types of cookies. An apple pie is next, like the one Kara had made on their first night here and then Lena suggests banana bread and they make that too. By the end, they have so much food that Lena knows they’d have no hope in eating it all between the two of them if Kara wasn’t Kryptonian.

“How do you think everyone back home is doing?” Kara asks, as they clean up the mess together this time.

Lena looks over at Kara, surprised by the question, but she finds Kara not looking at her, her head down as she washes dishes in the sink. It’s the first time either of them have really mentioned those they’d left behind.

“I’m not sure,” Lena answers honestly. She knows that if anything big had happened, Alex would’ve contacted them on the phones they’d been given but they’ve heard absolutely nothing since they’ve been here.

“Do you think they’re any closer to finding Lex?”

“I don’t know,” Lena says. She was going to make a joke, say something about Kara not being able to wait to go home so they wouldn’t have to live together anymore, but it didn’t quite seem like the right time for a joke, not with how serious Kara sounds even if she can’t see her face.

Kara doesn’t say anymore so Lena drops the towel she’d been using to dry the dishes and turns her full attention to Kara. “What brought this on?”

Kara shrugs as she finally turns to Lena too. “I just want to know that you’re safe.” Their eyes meet and Kara smiles, shakes her head. “Sorry, we’ve had a good day and I’m bringing it down.”

“Don’t be sorry, if it’s on your mind, we can talk about it. It’s on my mind too.”

“Yeah?”

“Of course,” Lena nods. “I constantly wonder what Lex is up to, wonder if he’ll be around the next corner just waiting to get me. But I’ve felt like that for a long time. Now I wonder about our friends too. Winn, James, Alex, Maggie, Jess and J’onn too. I wonder how they’re all doing and if Jess is handling L-Corp okay by herself. I can’t wait for this to all be over. That being said,” she reaches out and takes Kara’s hand, even if it’s wet from being in the dishwater. “I’m really glad you came with me. I’m really glad that we’ve been able to spend all this time together.”

Kara gives her hand a squeeze. “Me too.”

“Do you miss Alex?” Lena asks, already knowing the answer, but she thinks that this may be where this conversation is actually coming from, from Kara missing her sister.

Kara nods. “I’m not sure I’ve ever been away from her for this long, not without some form of contact.”

“I’m sorry that I’ve taken you away from her, I know how close you two are.”

“No apologising, it was my choice to come here, remember?”

Lena nods.

“I just miss her, you know? So many times I’ve wanted to text her to tell her something or to just ask how she’s doing. I worry that she’s working too hard since all this stuff is going on while we’re basically just out here on vacation.”

Lena feels guilty about that too. They’re here, doing nothing, while God knows what is going to back in National City.

“I hope that everyone are taking breaks, giving themselves time to rest, because I know how hard they’ll be working to try and find Lex so you’re no longer in danger. I hope Alex is taking the time to see Maggie too, to spend time with her girlfriend, because I know how important their relationship is. I just really hope they’re all doing okay.”

“I know,” Lena says with another squeeze to Kara’s hands. “I hope so too.” She’d hate it if her family troubles caused problems for her friends, for the people who actually care for her.

“Alex is probably happy I’m gone,” Kara says with a laugh, the conversation suddenly becoming lighter. “She can actually eat without fear that I’m going to steal her food.”

“You and food,” Lena says with a fond shake of her head. “Speaking of food, I have an idea for what we can do with all baking we’ve done.”

“I assume we’re going to eat it?” Kara looks worried.

Lena laughs. “Of course. But I thought we could see if there’s a nice place to walk in the bush somewhere nearby. We could pack the baking for a picnic, make a day of it?”

“Really?” Kara asks and Lena can see the excitement in her grin.

“Are you excited about the food or the walk?”

“Both,” Kara grins.

Once the dishes are done, they sit down and do some investigating online and find there’s a nice walking track about an hour’s drive from here that looks nice. The forecast says it’s going to be sunny tomorrow so it’s perfect.

They settle on the couch after dinner, Kara pressed warm against her side as they watch a movie and eat some of the brownie they’d made. It’s been a really good day and despite the thought of exercise, Lena is really looking forward to tomorrow too.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'd love to hear your thoughts.
> 
> I'm estimating this fic is going to be about 14 or 15 chapters long, so we're heading towards the end now.
> 
> Tumblr: spaceman-earthgirl


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm not completely happy with this chapter but it's as good as it's going to get. Thanks for reading.

Shorts. Kara is wearing shorts. She should have expected this, with the activity she’s picked, hell, even Lena’s wearing shorts herself, but seeing Kara in shorts is something she’d definitely needed to be more prepared for.

With that and the tank top Kara is wearing, Lena already knows she’s going to have a hard time staying focused today.

“You nearly ready?” Kara asks as she walks into the kitchen. They’ve already packed up all the baking but Lena insisted on making sandwiches, on bringing something healthy too since they can’t live off baking for the day (well, Kara can, but she can’t).

“Two minutes,” Lena says as she throws the last ingredients together. She’s really looking forward to today, to spending the whole day out with Kara. So, yeah, maybe they have spent the entire past week together, but she can’t shake the idea of how romantic a walk and a picnic out in nature sounds, especially with the knowledge that Laura proposed to Kate during a picnic.

Lena packs the sandwiches amongst the fruit she’d cut up when Kara was out of the room, she’d turned her nose up at the sandwiches, she definitely wouldn’t have appreciated more healthy food.

_“But that takes up space that we could fit more brownie.”_

Lena had decided it was better not to even mention the fruit at this point.

They’d had to go out late yesterday afternoon and buy backpacks when they’d realised they had none in the house. Kara had found the biggest one in the shop she could, so she’d have as much room for their baking as possible.

Lena’s only rule was that Kara had to carry all the food she was going to eat and Lena would carry her own too. That seemed fair when Kara could eat so much more than her, right?

“Are you ready?” Lena asks once she’s all packed herself. She doesn’t receive an answer immediately and when she looks up, she sees Kara has half a slice of cake in her mouth. They’re not leaving much behind, but space in their bags wouldn’t allow them to take it all, much to Kara’s disappointment.

Kara grins around her food and Lena wants to find it gross but somehow it’s pretty cute. “Yep!” Kara says, words muffled by the cake. “We’re going to have so much fun!” Kara picks up her bag. “Can I drive?”

“You can drive if I get to pick the music.”

There’s no way Lena can say no to Kara when she has cake crumbs around her mouth.

“Deal!”

Lena laughs at Kara’s enthusiasm as she pulls her own bag onto her back. “Here,” she says, picking up a tissue on the way across the kitchen. “Your face is a mess.”

Kara grins sheepishly as her cheeks redden but she takes to offered tissue and wipes it across her mouth. “Thanks.”

The message tone on Kara’s phone cuts of another of Kara’s laughs and stops them halfway to the front door. Kara quickly pulls the phone out her pocket, they haven’t had contact with anyone back home since they’d left so a message now means something must’ve happened.

Lena peers over Kara’s shoulder so they can both read the message and fear settles firm and heavy in her stomach as she sees the message from Alex.

**Lex knows where you are. You need to leave now.**

“We need to go,” Kara says, dropping her bag to the floor.  “Come on,” she says, taking Lena’s hand in her own, pulling her towards the back of the house.

“Wait,” Lena says, using their joined hands to stop Kara from going further.

Kara turns back with a frown on her face. “What?”

“Just wait,” Lena says, trying to process this new information when just a minute ago she was looking forward to spending a day in nature with her best friend. “Where will we go?”

“There’s another safe house, a place that Winn set up as a backup, in case we were discovered here.”

“If Lex knows we’re here, won’t he know about that place too?” Lex is smart, she knew he’d find them eventually, she just didn’t think it would be so soon.

“Then we’ll just have to move again. But we know he’s coming here now so we need to move.” Kara tugs on her hand again but Lena doesn’t move.

She’s sick of this. For the past few years, ever since Lex first went to jail, she’s been looking over her shoulder, wondering if the man she just walked by was someone sent by Lex or if the woman she’d spotted outside her building twice in a row was there to kill her. There’s been a constant fear, one that followed her to National City and has now followed her here. So yeah, she’s sick of it, constantly wondering if today is the day Lex is going to get her, if today is the day she’ll miss something, if today is the day where Supergirl isn’t fast enough and Lex finally wins.

He’s interrupted her whole life, she moved to National City because of him (which, okay, worked out pretty well because she met Kara so perhaps she should thank him for that) but now she’s been forced into hiding, forced to leave her life, forced Kara’s life to be interrupted too, all because he wants her dead.

And she’s not going to let him dictate her life any longer.

“What if we didn’t leave?”

The gentle tugging on her hand stops as Kara looks at her in confusion. “What do you mean?”

“What if we stayed here?”

“Did you not hear me, Lex is coming, we need to-“

“I heard you,” Lena interrupts. “But what if we stayed-“

“Then Lex-“

“Kara,” Lena says, cutting her off once again. She continues when she sees she has Kara’s full attention. “What if we stayed? What if we wait for him to arrive? What if we put a stop to this once and for all?”

Lena sees the moment it clicks in Kara’s mind what she’s saying, sees the way her eyes darken. “You want to use yourself as bait.”

It’s not a question.

“I can’t keep running from him. He’s interrupted our lives enough already. If he’s really on his way, we can finally end this and send him back to prison, where he belongs.”

“No,” Kara shakes her head. “It’s too risky.”

“Everything I do is a risk. If he’s coming here, then we can finally end this.”

“You’re asking me to let you willingly walk into danger? I can’t let you do that.”

“But you’re here, I won’t be in any real danger. He’ll turn up, you grab him, it’s over.”

Kara shakes her head. “You know it won’t be that simple.”

“What if we just wait for him to show up then assess the situation? If it’s too dangerous, then we can leave, you can fly us out of here.”

“I don’t know…” Kara trails off, looking nervous.

That’s not a no so Lena powers on through, feels Kara’s resolve wavering.

“If we can arrest him, shouldn’t we? He’s hurt so many people and he’s going to continue to hurt people until he’s captured. If we have a chance, shouldn’t we stop him?”

“Alex won’t approve.”

Lena laughs. “Since when has that stopped you from doing something before? If I recall, Alex didn’t want you to come here in the first place but that didn’t stop you.”

“I’m glad I did,” Kara says, voice serious despite Lena’s joking. “Especially now that he’s discovered your location.” She pauses, clearly putting a lot of thought into what they’re going to do next. “Okay, we’ll wait, on one condition.”

Lena’s eyes widen, she hadn’t expected it to be that easy. “Condition?”

“At the first sign of danger, I’m pulling you out, no arguments.”

“That seems fair.” Lena pauses. “Thank you.”

“Don’t thank me yet, we still have to catch him.”

“So now what?”

“Now, we wait.”

There’s a clear tension in the room as they wait, Kara’s eyes following every movement outside, listening for every noise, as they sit silently beside each other on the couch. Lena’s too nervous to do anything but sit and wait, all her courage from before slipping as she realises what they’re going to do. Lena’s about to come face to face with the man she grew up with, the boy who comforted her when they were young, the person who wants her dead.

“He’s here,” Kara says, breaking the silence and causing Lena to jump. That hadn’t taken him long at all. “He has a few men with him,” she continues and Lena wishes she could see what Kara can. “But he’s approaching the house alone. He must think you’re unprotected since the DEO sent no agents to watch over you. They knew I’d be enough, but he doesn’t know that and we can use that to our advantage.”

Lena nods. “I’ll answer the door, you go take care of the rest of the men while I distract Lex, then you can come back for him.”

“No, I won’t leave you alone with him.“

“It’s the best way. You take out his men first so they can’t intervene when they realise something is wrong and then you come back in here for him.”

Kara chews on her lower lip. “I don’t like it, we should leave.”

“Please,” Lena says, this is the closest they’ve ever been to catching him. Kara’s eyes flash to the door and she knows they’re running out of time. “I’ll be fine, I promise.”

Kara reaches out and pulls her into a tight hug. “You better be.”

“I will,” Lena says, her arms going just as tightly around Kara. This hug reminds her of the one they’d shared at the DEO before they’d come here, leaving Lena wishing she could hold on forever. “Be careful.”

“You too,” Kara says, pulling away from the hug only to press a kiss to Lena’s cheek. “I’ll see you soon.”

There’s no time to think about the fact that Kara just kissed her cheek as Lena watches her vanish out the back of the house and suddenly, she’s really alone, for the first time in the last week.

She doesn’t like the feeling.

It only lasts a moment before there’s a knock at the door.

Lena takes a deep breath. Here goes nothing.

“So it’s true,” Lex says and her blood runs cold at his easy tone, as if this is a normal moment between siblings, like he doesn’t plan to use the gun that he’s holding by his side. “You really are out here playing house.”

“I was wondering when you’d find me,” Lena says, matching Lex’s conversational tone. “Took you longer than I thought it would, you must be slipping.”

The flash of anger that runs through his eyes is satisfying. “Well, aren’t you going to invite me in?”

“You came alone?”

“My men are incompetent, they haven’t managed to kill you yet so this time I wasn’t taking any chances. Plus, you’re out here with no protection, might as well make it a fair fight.”

“You have a gun,” Lena says, eyes flashing down to the pistol that’s now pointed in her direction. “How is that fair?”

“Fair-ish,” Lex says with a grin, so much like the brother she knew. What on earth had happened to the kind boy she grew up with? “Where’s your fake wife? I can’t believe you found someone willing to pretend to like you. Is she your protection? She’s a reporter at CatCo, she’s not going to be much help to you. Did you have to pay her to come here with you?”

Lena bristles at the mention of Kara, she hates the idea of Lex knowing about her, hates the thought that Lex could try to hurt her by going after Kara instead.

“She stays out of this,” Lena says, stepping sideways, putting herself between Lex and the door to the hallway. She knows Lex can’t hurt her, and she’s not even in the house, but Lex can’t now that.

“So she’s in the bedroom? Shall we call her, see if she genuinely cares for you or if she’s just here because you’re paying her. I’m curious to what the answer is.”

“This is between me and you.”

Lex laughs. “Well I can see you care for her, maybe I don’t need to kill you, maybe I could kill her to hurt you instead, that sounds like more fun.”

Lena feels anger flash through her. She just wants this to end, wants Lex behind bars so she can forget about the brother she loved so much and finally move on with her life, knowing her and her friends are safe.

“She has no part in this.”

Lex shrugs with a grin. “We’ll see.”

“How do you want to do this?” Lena says, remaining in front of the door. She has to make him believe that she thinks his threats are real. She knows Kara will be here soon, that she’s not in any real danger, but Lex doesn’t know that. “Are you going to kill me here or take me some place else first?”

“I did think about taking you, especially when I know you have no protection, but I don’t want to give you a chance to escape again so here is going to have to do. And don’t worry, Supergirl won’t be able to save you this time either, I left a little surprise for her in National City that should keep her busy until this is over.”

Lena’s heart drops in her chest, her voice like steel. “What did you do?”

“Relax, nobody’s dead.” He winks. “Yet, anyway.”

Lena swallows, nervous for the first time. What did Lex do in National City that is a big enough distraction for Supergirl? She knows it’s actually J’onn who’s taking care of it but she hopes Lex hasn’t hurt more people in his attempt to kill her.

“So, any last words?” Lex says, holding out the gun more steadily in her direction.

_This is it._

“You’re really going to kill me, your own sister?”

“You stopped being my sister when you chose t _hem_ over me.”

The emphasis on the word ‘them’ leaves no doubt in Lena’s mind who he’s talking about.

“I didn’t condone you killing, no matter who it was that you killed.”

“You always did care too much,” Lex says with a smirk. “And this time it’s going to be you who dies for it.”

This isn’t the first time Lena’s looked down the barrel of a gun but to have your own brother, your own flesh and blood, be this ready to kill you isn’t a nice feeling. Time seems to slow down as she watches his finger settle on the trigger, all the while a cold smile on his face. She’s going to remember that look on his face for the rest of her life, which could be a very short time if Kara doesn’t turn up soon. She’s not worried, but Kara is cutting it a bit close.

What if something has happened to her? Lena couldn’t live with herself is something happened to Kara because of this.

“It’s now or never,” Lena whispers, the words barely more than an exhale but it’s enough for Kara to hear. She knows that if she dies right now, it’d be entirely her fault, but Kara would blame herself and she doesn’t want to be something else that Kara loses, doesn’t want Kara to have to mourn her too.

Lex holds the gun aimed at her head, he's really taking no chances this time. His fingers twitches. This was a mistake, she shouldn’t have done this, she should’ve thought this through more, thought about how this would affect Kara if it went wrong, thought about-

A loud bang startles Lena from her thoughts and she expects white hot pain to tear through her as a bullet cuts through her but instead she watches Lex fly across the room, hard enough to leave a dent in the wall. Supergirl has him pinned to the wall, her arm across his chest, his gun lying useless on the ground.

Lena takes great satisfaction in the pained surprise that’s clear on his face as she breathes a sigh of relief.

“Sorry I took so long,” Kara says, turning her attention to Lena over her shoulder. “He had a few more men hiding outside that I realised, but they’re all safely tied up now.” She looks her up and down. “Are you okay? You’re not hurt?”

“I’m fine,” Lena smiles as she watches Lex squirm in Kara’s hold.

“How?” Lex says, the word coming out through gritted teeth, the pain and anger clear in his voice. God, it feels good to see him like this, powerless, no longer in control.

“This whole thing was a trap for you,” Kara says and Lena thinks that Kara is just as satisfied watching him squirm. “Do you really think I’d leave Miss Luthor without protection?”

“But…” His eyes are wide and Lena can see the defeat in them, he knows they’ve won.

“You go and check on Kara,” Kara says, ignoring Lex and nodding her head toward the bedroom as if Kara has been in there the whole time. “I’m going to take your brother and his associates to the DEO but I’ll be back for you soon, okay?”

Lena nods as she watches Lex try and twist out of Kara’s embrace again to no avail. There’s desperation in his eyes now, he knows it’s really over this time.

“It was good seeing you,” Lena says, looking Lex up and down. “I hope I never have to again.”

Lena’s left staring at their broken door as Kara swoops out of the room, leaving her well and truly alone this time. She takes a shuddering breath and needs to sit down, the reality of today hitting her as silence settles around her. She’d came close to death, yet again, but all of this is finally over, Lex is going to prison for a long time and she knows he won’t be able to break out or orchestrate any more assassination attempts from where the DEO will send him.

Lena startles when she hears the front door move not long later and she looks up to see Kara standing there, sans Supergirl outfit, looking sheepish as she inspects the damage to the door.

“Oops.”

Lena can’t help the laugh that escapes her lips, of course Kara is worried about the damage she’d done.

“It’s really over?” Lena asks, standing from the couch only to stumble when her legs start to give out.

Kara’s in front of her in a flash, keeping her upright. “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine,” Lena says, leaning into Kara’s body nonetheless, her warmth and strength a comfort after the last half hour. “Just a bit shaky is all.”

“Alex can look over you when we get back.”

Back. Of course. Back to National City. In all the chaos she’d almost forgotten that Lex being caught means that they’d get to go home, that they’d have to go back to their old lives. Lena’s really going to miss this place.

“Did you make it back with Lex okay?”

Kara nods. “Where he’s going, he won’t be bothering you again anytime soon.”

Lena leans more into Kara. “Thank you, I wouldn’t be standing here today if it wasn’t for you.”

Kara’s smirk is playful. “Well, technically you’re not standing since I’m mostly holding you up.”

Lena laughs but makes no move to step away. “You know what I mean.”

“I told you I’d protect you and I will, always.”

Lena rests her head on Kara’s shoulder as she holds her close. “When do we have to leave?”

“They want us back at the DEO as soon as possible.”

Lena sighs.

Kara pulls back. “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine,” Lena smiles but Kara sees right through it. “I was just, I was really looking forward to today.” That’s partly the truth, she really was, but she also doesn’t want to leave this place, worried that everything that’s happened over the last week will mean nothing when they get back to National City. Plus, she’s really gotten used to Kara being around all the time and she doesn’t like the idea of going back to her apartment on her own, it’s never felt like home as this place does, even if they’ve only been here a week.

“Me too. But just because we’re going home doesn’t mean we can’t do things like that some other time. I could even fly us back here and we could go for a walk at the same place we planned to today.”

“Really?”

“Of course,” Kara grins. “I was looking forward to today too.”

It’s only then that Lena realises how close they’re still standing, their bodies just inches apart from the hug they’d shared but hadn’t stepped back from.

“Do we have to leave now?” Lena asks, willing her heart to slow down. Hopefully Kara just passes it off as residual fear from earlier.

“Why?”

“Do we have time to say goodbye to the neighbours first?” It has only been a week but she’d like a chance to say goodbye to Nicole, and Ava too, she at least wants to explain why they’re leaving.

“We have time for that,” Kara smiles. “Plus, I’m sure Winn won’t mind, there’s a few things I want to pack to take with us back home.”

Lena raises an eyebrow. “Such as?”

“Our paintings, for one, we can’t leave them here, I’ve already got a spot picked out in my apartment for your one.”

Lena laughs. “Have you, now?”

Kara nods. “Plus, if you think I’m going to leave those onesies behind, you’re mistaken.”

Lena rolls her eyes as she steps away from Kara with another laugh. She regrets the move almost immediately, the space between them now feeling so much bigger than the few feet it actually is. “We can take those as long as the Supergirl one is still mine.”

Kara’s grin is so bright that Lena finds herself caught in it, as Kara looks truly carefree for the first time in a long time. Lena feels it too, the lightness in her chest at the fact she’s no longer being hunted.

Kara reaches out between them, threads their fingers together even though they no longer have to maintain their cover as there’s no fear if someone finds out who they are now. “Why don’t we say goodbye to the neighours first, then we can argue about clothing?”

Lena gives their joined hands a squeeze as she laughs. “Deal.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, this fic is starting to wind down now but there’s still a few chapters to go so it’s not over just yet.
> 
> I'd love to hear your thoughts.
> 
> Tumblr: spaceman-earthgirl


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's back to Kara's pov for this chapter.
> 
> Thanks for all the comments on the previous chapter, you guys make me so happy and I hope you enjoy this chapter too.

It feels strange to be leaving, even if they’ve only been here a week, it seems like much longer. Kara almost wishes they could stay longer, but that would mean that Lena was still in danger and that’s not something she ever wants to happen again. She’s been so worried this past week, and before that, and she always will worry, but having Lex out of the equation now at least makes her feel a bit better.

They said goodbye to Nicole and Ava earlier, told them both the truth, about who they really are and why they were here.

What confused Kara though was they didn’t mention that their marriage was fake, and neither Nicole or Ava questioned that part of their story. She gets why they didn’t tell Ava, the whole idea or talking to her in the first place was so she could see that two women could be happy in a relationship together.

But not telling Nicole the truth? Kara’s not sure why they didn’t. She kept expecting Lena to bring it up, especially when Nicole said that it was nice they at least had each other through everything. But Lena didn’t say anything, just gave her hand a squeeze and agreed. Of course Kara couldn’t mention it after that, not that she’d wanted to, not when she could feel the cool metal of Lena’s rings that she’d yet to take off.

They promised to come back and visit, gave Nicole their number too, so they can stay in contact. Kara already knows she’s going to use the excuse of coming to visit Nicole to go on the walk they’d planned for today, she’d really been looking forward to that.

After that, they put a few of their things aside that they wanted to keep. Of course they’ll take their paintings home, plus the chess set. There are the onesies too, Lena had looked so completely adorable in hers that there’s no way Kara was going to leave them behind.

Plus, seeing Lena wear her crest, well, Kara’s not entirely sure how that made her feel but it was definitely a good feeling.

The baking goes in that pile too, of course, there’s no way she’s leaving that behind and after Lena insists, the suit she’d worn to dinner does too. She must admit, she did like wearing it.

Kara adds some of Lena plaid shirts to their small group of belongings too, she’d definitely liked the look of them on Lena as well.

By the time they get everything sorted, it’s beginning to get dark and it’s time to go, Alex and everyone else are waiting for them.

Leaving here feels wrong almost, but at least Lena is still with her.

They take the car out of town, not wanting to risk anyone seeing them and they have to make it look like they’re actually leaving, not just vanishing. They leave their belongings, she’ll come back for them later. She probably could’ve managed juggling all of that, plus Lena, and saved herself an extra trip, but a selfish part of her wants to hold Lena close this one last time, without everything else getting in the way.

She knows things will change when they get back to National City and she’s not looking forward to it.

“Are you okay?” Kara asks, holding Lena close with an arm around her, ready to set off.

She’s so soft and warm against her, face buried in her neck, just like she had on their journey here, the only difference this time is that Kara knows Lena is safe.

“I’m fine,” Lena says, the words ghosting across Kara’s neck and she holds Lena that little bit closer. She knows flying isn’t Lena’s favourite form of transport.

Kara gently takes off and she feels Lena’s grip tighten. She’s tempted to go slower than she has to, just so she can hold Lena for that little bit longer, but there’s a slight chill in the air now since it’s dark and she doesn’t want Lena to get cold.

Before long they’re touching down on the DEO balcony, no longer having to worry about being seen with Lex behind bars.

“We’re home,” Kara says quietly, Lena’s arms relaxing when she realises they’re back on solid ground.

“Thank you,” Lena says, staying close, her arms loose over Kara’s shoulders. “For everything.”

“Always.” The one word fills the space between them, leaving Kara looking at warm green eyes, crinkled in the corners from the most beautiful smile Kara has ever seen.

They’re so close and the desire to kiss Lena hits her as strong as ever. Lena’s right there, all it would take is for her to lean forward slightly, a small tilt of her head and then she’d be pressing her lips against the ones she’s dreamt about.

Does Lena want that? Because the soft look she’s giving her now, Kara thinks that just maybe Lena wants it too.

“Kara!”

The moment is broken by a shout across the room and Kara looks over to see Alex moving quickly towards them, followed closely by Winn.

They’re at the DEO. How had she forgotten that?

Kara steps away from Lena just in time to receive an armful of Alex. Kara’s arms immediately wrap around Alex, holding her close.

“I missed you,” Alex says, voice low, just loud enough for Kara to hear.

Beside her she sees Lena is getting the same treatment for Winn, who’s giving her a crushing hug.

“I missed you too,” Kara says, relaxing into the comfort of her sister.

It’s only been a week but that seems like too long.

She’d really missed Alex.

When she’d stopped by earlier with Lex and his men, she’d basically just dropped them off, a quick “we caught Lex, Lena’s safe,” before she was back in the air, wanting to get to Lena as soon as possible to make sure she really was okay.  She’d sent a proper message back to the DEO as she’d been flying, to give them a few more details of what had happened, but she hadn’t stuck around long enough the first time to properly see her sister.

Alex steps back, still close to her side, as she reaches out to give Lena’s arm a squeeze. “I’m glad you’re okay.”

“All thanks to Kara,” Lena says, flashing another smile that’s so warm that it sets her heart fluttering in her chest.

Kara gets a hug from Winn next and then James and J’onn appear too and more hugs are had by all.

“What now?” Kara asks after they’ve all said their hellos. Despite the fact that she is going to miss the small home they’d spent the week making together, she is glad to be here, surrounded by her family once more.

“We just need a statement from you both, about what happened with Lex, then you’re free to go,” J’onn says. He turns to Lena. “We’ve been watching your apartment and L-Corp while you’ve been away and everything’s been fine so then you can go home.”

Alex takes them to one of their briefing rooms and they both tell their story. Alex gives them an unimpressed look when they tell her that they’d waited for Lex instead of leaving like instructed but at least everything worked out okay so she’s not too mad.

Kara’s _definitely_ glad that it turned out okay, she’d never have forgiven herself if something had happened to Lena because of a decision she’d made. Lena had been part of the decision too but if she’d been too slow, if something unexpected had happened, she’d never have forgiven herself for not getting to Lena in time.

Alex tells them about Lex’s bomb threat too, the one designed to keep Supergirl busy while he killed Lena, but they’d found the bomb and deactivated it before it could cause any harm.

So it had really turned out to be a good day for everyone. Except maybe Lex.

“I can get one of the agents to drop you off at home, if you like,” Alex says, addressing Lena, once they’re all done.

“Or I can take you home?” Kara quickly says, not quite ready to leave her yet. How is she meant to go home to her own apartment, alone, after they’ve been together almost constantly for the past week? Already, the thought of being alone sets off a longing in her chest.

_How do you tell your best friend you’ve fallen in love with her?_

Lena nods just as Winn shouts across the room.

“Supergirl, there’s a situation downtown.”

For a split second, Kara thinks about letting J’onn handle this one last time, but that’s a selfish idea and she quickly pushes it from her mind.

“Go,” Alex insists. “I’ve got Lena, I’ll take her home myself.”

“I’ll see you tomorrow?” Kara asks, her attention back on Lena.

“Dinner?”

Kara nods. She knows Lena’s going to have a busy day dealing with L-Corp tomorrow. “Stay safe.”

“You too.”

Kara is up and out of the building, Winn talking in her ear as she heads downtown to deal with a fire that’s broken out in one of the buildings. By the time she helps put out said fire and makes sure everyone is safe, it’s late, but she quickly heads back to grab the stuff they’d left at the house, drops it off at her apartment, then she goes back to the DEO, knows Alex will still be there.

The first thing out of her mouth when she lands is, of course, about Lena. “Did Lena get home safely?”

Alex nods. “I took her home and made sure she was safe there myself.”

“Thank you.”

Alex smiles. “So, how was your week away? You didn’t get too bored?”

Kara glances around, doesn’t want to be overheard. “Can we talk?”

Alex’s easy smile drops. “We can go back to my place?”

Kara flies them to Alex’s, doesn’t want to waste any time. Maggie greets them both, a kiss for Alex and a hug for Kara, when they walk through the door.

“Is this a conversation you want to have in front of Maggie?” Alex asks, clearly reading Kara’s apprehension.

“I…ahh…” She glances at Maggie. This is something she wants to talk to just Alex about first but she doesn’t want to kick Maggie out, Alex’s apartment just doesn’t offer much privacy.

“Why don’t I go grab us a pizza while you two catch up?”

“No, you don’t have to-“

“It’s fine,” Maggie cuts her off with a smile, squeezing Kara’s arm.

Alex gives Maggie another kiss. “Thank you.”

“I’ll see you soon.”

Once the door has closed, Kara turns back to Alex. “You have the best girlfriend.”

“I know,” Alex smiles. “So, what did you want to talk about? Did something happen while you were away?”

Despite the fact that Maggie has gone to get them some food, Kara pulls out a carton of ice cream from the freezer anyway and returns with it to the couch.

Only once they’re seated, with a spoon each, does Kara talk.

“I had the best week with Lena.”

The surprise is clear on Alex’s face. “You wanted to talk about how good your week was, I thought you were going to tell me something bad had happened.”

“No,” Kara says with a shake of her head. “It was wonderful.”

“Is that a problem?”

“No. I just…she just…” Kara swallows the lump in her throat. This is the part she hadn’t wanted anyone else to hear, even Maggie. This is something she only wants to talk about with her sister. “I like her.”

“So you finally admit it?”

It’s really no surprise that Alex already knows.

“Is it that obvious?”

“Anyone with eyes can clearly see you like her. We even took bets on whether or not something would happen between the two of you while you were away.”

“Alex!” Oh, Rao, who else knows? “Who’s we?”

“Just Maggie, Winn and I. Why did you think Winn set you up as a married couple?”

Kara idly twists the rings that are still on her finger. Taking them off feels like the final move, like if she takes them off then the week is officially over and they’re back to being best friends again. Not that that ever changed, but she definitely feels closer to Lena than she did a week ago.

“Lena hasn’t taken her rings off either.”

Kara looks up in surprise “She hasn’t?”

“No, she was still wearing them when I dropped her off.”

_She probably just forgot to, right?_

“Why are you telling me this now?” Alex asks. “Did something happen?”

“So much happened.”

Alex raises a suggestive eyebrow.

“Not what you’re thinking,” Kara says, feeling her cheeks heat up. She wishes something like _that_ had happened. “We spent the entire week together. We cooked together, went shopping together, spent our whole days together. The second day we were there I got bored so she turned some music on and we danced around the room and she looked so beautiful. And then the next day she suggested we paint so I wasn’t bored and we spent the day painting.”

Alex gives an encouraging smile so Kara continues.

“We played chess too and it was great to not have to hide how smart I am, I got to completely be myself around her and she listened while I told her all about Krypton.” She pauses. “I had a nightmare after that.”

“Oh, honey,” Alex says, placing a comforting hand on her arm. “I’m sorry I wasn’t there.”

Kara thinks back to that night, how those horrible images had flashed through her mind, only to be soothed by Lena’s warm touch. She’s the only person, besides Alex, who has been able to help her calm down after a nightmare.

“It’s okay, Lena was.”

Alex gives her arm a squeeze. “I’m glad you have her.”

Kara smiles. “Me too.”

“How did the whole ‘fake married’ thing go? Did you have to pretend at all or did you spend most of your time inside?”

Kara’s going to have to have words with Winn about that, now that she knows it was done on purpose. She hopes it didn’t make Lena uncomfortable at all.

“We went to a dinner party with the neighbours and made friends with the woman next door, we even went to the park with her and her kids.” She sighs. “It was so easy to pretend I found myself thinking it was real sometimes.”

“Have you told Lena this?”

Kara shakes her head. “I can’t risk our friendship.”

“She feels the same way about you, you know that, right?”

“I thought she was going to kiss me yesterday.”

Alex eyes widen.

“We were baking and I threw flour at her so she threw it back and it went all over my face. She wiped my face clean, ran her fingers through my hair and she was just standing so close and her eyes glanced down at my lips and I really thought she was going to kiss me.”

Kara’s eyes fall back to looking at her rings, thinking about earlier and how she’d almost kissed Lena herself. Would she have if Alex hadn’t interrupted?

“That’s pretty gay.”

Kara looks up, startled, a laugh falling from her lips. “Says the woman with a girlfriend.”

“You’re in love with your best friend, that’s pretty gay too.”

Kara’s breath catches, the word ‘love’ swirling through her mind. She knows it’s true, but how obvious must she have been that Alex knows too?

Does Lena?

“You want my advice?” Kara nods. “Go home, get a good night’s rest, then go see her tomorrow, talk to her, tell her how you feel. At least then everything will be out in the open. If she doesn’t feel the same way, then you can put all of this behind you and move on.” Kara goes to say something but Alex isn’t finished. “Which won’t happen because she loves you too.”

Kara can only dream of that being true.

“How am I supposed to go home now to my empty apartment? How am I going to be able to sleep without her by my side?”

Alex gives her another look. “You shared a bed? Winn told me the house had two rooms.”

Kara blushes. “It did, but we slept in the same room.”

Alex rolls her eyes. “How can you think she doesn’t like you then?”

“It was for her protection!” Kara says, but the excuse sounds weak even to her ears. That was just one of the reasons she’d wanted to be close to Lena, she just wishes she knew what Lena had been thinking too.

“Sure it was,” Alex teases.

Maybe she didn’t miss Alex as much as she’d thought.

“I’ll talk to her, okay?”

“Good.” Alex wraps her arm around her shoulders. “You know I just want you to be happy, right?”

Kara nods. “I know.”

“And I’ve seen how happy she makes you, I’ve never seen you like this before.”

“I’ve never met someone like Lena before.”

Alex smiles. “You can stay here if you want, if you don’t want to be alone, Maggie won’t mind.”

Kara gives her a smile in return. “I’ll be fine, but I will wait for Maggie to get back with that pizza she promised.”

“That doesn’t surprise me at all,” Alex laughs.

Maggie returns not long later, two pizzas in hand, and Kara gives Maggie another hug just because she can.

Alex and Maggie fill her in on what’s been going on the last week and it’s just after midnight when she finally leaves, with a kiss on the cheek from Alex and a third hug from Maggie.

Her apartment is cold and dark when she gets there and she eats an entire cake to try and make herself fee better, one of the ones she’d baked with Lena, but it only makes her miss the woman more.

She knows she told Alex that she’ll talk to Lena but she’s not sure she can, not without being one hundred percent sure that Lena has feelings for her in return. It’s not worth it, the risk of losing Lena, if she doesn’t feel the same way. She likes what they have now, loves their friendship, and doesn’t want anything to change that. Just having Lena in her life is enough, just having Lena in her life makes her happier than she can remember being.

She settles in bed, it feeling much too empty now with Lena not in it too. She misses her warmth, her light, her soft smiles and gentle touches and the way Lena knows her so well, the way she _gets_ her like no one else ever has. What she wouldn’t give to just be able to hold Lena now, just for one more night.

She sighs as she turns over, trying to get comfortable.

Maybe friendship isn’t enough?

But she’s not sure if she’s ready to risk more.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'd love to hear your thoughts.
> 
> Tumblr: spaceman-earthgirl


	13. Chapter 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to everyone who's still with me, this story has been so fun to write and we're nearly at the end now. Thanks for reading!

Sleep eludes Lena as she huffs out a breath and rolls over yet again, because no matter what, she just can’t get comfortable. The third time she’d been attacked, she’d been in this very bed, and that should bother her, and she can pretend that that’s the reason why she can’t sleep, but she knows it’s not.

She’d felt it as soon as she’d gotten home, as soon as Alex had left her alone, there was just something missing in her apartment, and she knows exactly what it is.

This place had felt like a home, at least more than living with the Luthor’s ever had. She’d felt like she’d finally found a place she’d belonged, here in National City, and while she still does feel like she belongs here, it doesn’t feel quite right without Kara by her side.

The room is too quiet now, there’s no soft breathing coming from beside her, no warm arm over her stomach or hair tickling her neck.

_Does Kara miss her too?_

Lena picks up her phone from where she’d left it charging on the nightstand. She sees all the emails she’s missed over the past week, contemplates checking them, getting out of bed and doing work, instead of trying to sleep more.

She puts her phone back down though, it’s just after 2am and she knows if she gets up, she won’t get any sleep at all, which she knows she’ll need for her busy day tomorrow, catching up on everything she’s missed at L-Corp.

But she’s not sure if sleep is going to come while she misses Kara so much.

_Why did she have to go and fall for her best friend?_

The phone she’s put back on her nightstand gives her a fright when it starts ringing and she fumbles to answer it when she sees Kara’s face smiling back at her.

“Hi?”

“Hey, is everything okay?”

Lena frowns. Why would something be wrong?

“I’m fine, has something happened?”

There’s silence for a moment on the other end of the line before Kara speaks again. “Hold on.” There’s the telltale sound of wind rushing through the phone and she knows what’s about to happen before Kara even speaks. “Can you let me in? I’m on your balcony.”

Lena pushes back the covers and walks over to the door and when she pulls back the curtains, she finds pyjama-clad Kara standing on the other side.

“Is everything okay?” Lena asks as Kara steps through the door, pulling it shut behind her.

Kara hesitates. “I couldn’t sleep,” she says, nervously twisting her fingers together and Lena notices with some surprise that Kara still has her rings on too. “And since for the last week I’ve been falling asleep to the sound of your heartbeat, I thought that might help.”

Lena feels her heart speed up at Kara’s words and she hopes she isn’t listening to it right now.

“But when I listened and realised you were still awake, I thought something might be wrong. Last time you were here, you were attacked, I should’ve made sure you were going to be okay before you left. So I called you and…” She trails off. “Well, you know the rest.”

God, what did she do to deserve a friend like Kara? Someone who cares so much, someone who’s always there for her, someone who was willing to drop her entire life and move across country just to make sure she was safe.

“I’m fine,” Lena smiles. “I just couldn’t sleep either. But thank you.”

“Okay, well,” Kara shifts, unsure. “Good.” She pauses again and Lena doesn’t know what to say either. “I guess I should go.”

“Stay,” Lena says, before she can second guess herself, before she can over think things and talk herself out of it.

Kara seems just as reluctant to leave as she is for her to go.

Kara still looks unsure. “Are you sure?”

It feels different now, that they’re back in National City. But Lena doesn’t want that, she wants the woman she’s grown even closer to in this past week.

“I think we’ll both sleep better if you do.” Lena takes Kara’s hand, pulls her towards the bed. “Come on.”

Lena slides back into her side of the bed and Kara takes the other, settling on their respective sides. But it’s not close enough, and so Lena tries not to over think things again as she shifts closer. Kara had said before, while they were away, that she liked cuddling with her, that she gave the best hugs, and she keeps that in mind as she presses closer.

They’d done this while they were away, so why not here too?

Lena feels Kara almost melt against her as she presses closer and a warm arm settles around her waist.

_We’re just friends_ , she tries to remind herself, but it’s really hard to keep that thought clear in her mind when she’s pressed so close to Kara, when she can feel every breath she takes.

This is what she’d been missing before, this is what she needs, Kara, in her arms, a head on her shoulder and their legs brushing under the covers. It’s a comfort and warmth and a feeling of home that only Kara gives her.

“Go on a date with me.”

The words are soft but they startle them both.

Kara pulls her head from Lena’s shoulder to look up at her and even in the dim light, Lena can see the panic in her eyes.

“I didn’t mean to say that out loud,” Kara says, voice still soft but her eyes are locked on Lena’s now and she knows she didn’t just imagine the words she’d been longing to hear, longing to say herself, Kara had actually said them.

Lena hesitates. “But did you mean it?”

Kara bites her lip, nods.

Lena’s heart is hammering in her chest. “Okay.”

“Okay?”

 “Okay, I’ll go on a date with you.”

The smile that spills across Kara’s lips is magnificent. “Really?”

Is it really that much of a surprise to Kara that she’d say yes? She supposes she almost can’t believe that Kara asked her in the first place, so she can’t really fault Kara for making sure.

Lena laughs. “Really.”

“Okay, good.” Kara settles her head back on Lena’s shoulder and it feels almost anticlimactic, like these feelings have been building inside her for so long, like she’s been waiting an eternity for Kara to say those words, like it’s something that should be this momentous thing, and now she’s just said them in the most casual way.

But it’s perfect.

“Tomorrow?”

Lena holds Kara closer. “I can’t wait.”

xxx

Lena silences her alarm as soon as it goes off. Kara stirs at her side but doesn’t wake as Lena slips out of bed.

She smiles as she makes her way across the room, careful not to make any noise so she won’t wake her sleeping friend.

Friend?

She thinks they’re more than that now.

Because _Kara asked her out on a date._

It almost doesn’t seem real, like she could’ve dreamt the entire thing, but as she looks down at Kara’s face, peaceful in sleep, she knows it wasn’t a dream.

She feels giddy at the thought.

They do need to talk, about a lot of things, and they will, because it seems she’s not the only one who has developed feelings in what was meant to be just a friendship. It certainly brings the past week into a different light and she feels stupid now for spending so long hiding her feelings, for thinking that Kara couldn’t possibly like her when it certainly seems like she does.

Lena’s quiet as she gets ready, which is a new thing for her. She’s always had her own space, and now suddenly she’s sharing it with someone, and she’s conscious of the fact that she has to move carefully as to not wake Kara.

She pauses at the door to the bathroom, looks back at the sleeping form in her bed, and decides she doesn’t mind sharing if it’s with Kara.

It’s not even 6am by the time Lena is dressed and ready for work. She’s about to leave when she realises she’s left her phone in her bedroom and she sneaks back in to get it.

Lena makes it to her phone and halfway back out of the room when she hears a sleepy voice behind her.

“Hey.”

Lena can’t help but smile as she turns and finds Kara blinking up at her.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to wake you,” Lena says, her own voice quiet as she makes her way to the edge of the bed.

“What time is it?” Kara asks, well, more mumbles, as she’s clearly still half asleep.

God, she’s adorable.

“Almost six. I have to go to work.”

“It’s too early, come back to bed.”

Lena actually considers getting back into her pyjamas and snuggling up with Kara once more.

She’s never been tempted by something this much in her life.

But she knows she has work to do.

“I have to go,” Lena repeats, smiling down at Kara whose eyes have slipped closed again.

“Okay,” Kara says, opening her eyes and starting to push back the cover but Lena stops her.

“Stay, sleep,” Lena says and Kara doesn’t need to be told twice as she settles back into the bed. “Stay as long as you want, just lock the door when you leave?”

“Mmhhmm,” Kara hums and Lena’s tempted yet again to crawl back into bed beside her.

Blonde hair is splayed across her pillow and Lena reaches down, brushes some of it off Kara’s face. Before she can lose her nerve, she leans down and presses a kiss to Kara’s forehead.

Kara’s eyes blink open and she smiles sleepily up at Lena. “I’ll see you later?”

Lena smiles as her heart skips in her chest and she nods. “Later.”

xxx

Lena knows she should be focusing on work, concentrating on the files in front of her and the emails she needs to go through to catch up on everything she’s missed the past week, but it’s very difficult to when she can think of nothing but Kara.

Should she text her? Wait to hear from her? She really doesn’t know what to do in a situation like this. Kara had asked her out, but they hadn’t planned anything beyond that, just fallen asleep in each other’s arms.

But now she’s awake and Kara’s not there to distract her and she doesn’t know what to do.

Should she text Alex? Winn? Ask one of them for advice? Or she could ask Jess? She certainly handled everything here while she was away.

“Miss Luthor?”

“Sorry, continue,” Lena says, waving Jess on, she’d almost forgotten she was supposed to be listening to her too.

Jess keeps talking and Lena tries to listen, she does, but her mind keeps finding its way back to Kara. It’s only 9am, how is she meant to focus for the rest of the day?

Maybe Jess picks up on how unfocused she is because not long later, she’s handing Lena more files to read and leaving her alone.

Being alone doesn’t help, it only means the extra brain power she was using to look like she was listening to Jess can be used to think about Kara instead.

This is bad, her company is important to her and she’s not going to be able to get any work done until she talks to Kara.

Lena picks up her phone, decides to text Kara, then spends ten minutes trying to figure out what to say. She’s no closer to figuring it out when there’s a knock at the door.

She knows that she shouldn’t involve Jess in her personal life but some advice right now would be really helpful.

“Jess, I-“

“It’s not Jess.”

Lena’s eyes flash up to her office door to find Kara standing there, a smile on her face and a bunch of flowers in her hand.

“Hi.”

Lena smiles as she stands and makes her way around her desk. Suddenly all her uncertainty from earlier is gone as she sees Kara. “Hi.”

“These are for you,” Kara says, holding out the flowers towards her. “I wanted to ask you out properly, you deserve more than me asking you out while half asleep.”

“I thought you were pretty cute,” Lena says, warmth filling her chest as she takes the offered flowers. “Thank you.”

“So, Lena Luthor, will you have dinner with me tonight?”

Lena decides not to point out that they already had dinner plans. She bites her lips, tries to hide her smile but fails. “I’d love to.”

“Then it’s a date,” Kara says, smile so wide and happy that Lena can do nothing but grin back. “Meet me at my place at 7?”

Lena glances down at the flowers and spies a card she’d missed before, the only thing written on it is _Love Kara_ and Lena honestly feels like she’s floating right now.

“Perfect.”

“I’ll let you get back to work, I know you’re busy.”

Lena wants to tell Kara to stay, to forget about work and just spend time with her now, but there’s work to be done and now she has an extra incentive to get it done before this evening.

“I’ll see you tonight.”

Kara bites her lips, hesitates, before she steps forward and presses a kiss to Lena’s cheek, lingering slightly before she pulls away.

Both women have red cheeks when Kara steps back.

“I can’t wait.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just one more chapter to go! Next chapter will, of course, be their date, plus talk of feelings etc and will hopefully tie the story up nicely.
> 
> I'd love to hear your thoughts.
> 
> Tumblr: spaceman-earthgirl


	14. Chapter 14

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Honestly, this story became so much bigger than I ever thought it would be, and that's thanks to all of you and your wonderful comments that kept me going. I hope you enjoy this final chapter, I certainly enjoyed writing it. Thanks for reading <3

Time seems to go _so_ slowly as Lena waits for an acceptable time to leave work and go home to get ready for her date.

She can’t help but smile yet again at that thought. She really has a date with Kara.

“Miss Luthor?”

Lena looks up to see Jess in her doorway, the file in her hand that she’d requested before, one she’d actually forgotten about. God, she really needs to focus.

“Thank you,” Lena says as Jess crosses the room and places the file on her desk.

She expects Jess to leave, so Lena glances up in surprise when she sees Jess hovering at the edge of her desk.

“Was there something else?”

Jess hesitates. “I was wondering if I could ask you a question?”

Lena knows it’s not work related, Jess is always straight to the point when it comes to work. And Lena has a sneaking suspicion she knows what this may be about.

Lena leans back and gives her secretary a once over (although after the past week, she really needs to look at promoting Jess because she’s done an amazing job) and Lena is glad to see her squirm slightly. Serves her right for what Lena knows she’s about to ask.

“I couldn’t help but notice the rings on your finger.”

Lena’s thumb runs along the back of the rings, she should’ve known it was a bad idea to wear them to work, she is a public figure after all. Hopefully Jess is the only one who saw them.

“Was there a question in that?”

“And I couldn’t help but notice a similar set of rings on Miss Danvers finger when she was here earlier.”

Lena raises an eyebrow, hoping to scare Jess into stopping talking. She doesn’t have a good explanation for that.

No such luck.

“I also noticed that she wasn’t at CatCo while you were away.”

Her secretary really is thorough.

Lena rolls her eyes. “We’re not married, if that’s what you’re asking.”

“The rings…?”

If it was anyone else questioning her personal life, she’d have stopped them well before they got this far, but she’d almost consider Jess a friend, and she knows it’ll feel good to finally have someone to talk about this with.

“Kara was with me. We were...undercover for our protection while we were away.”

“Undercover?”

“Yes. In a small town. Across the country. As a married couple.”

Jess bites her lip to hide her smile and luckily Lena is well used to hiding her emotions and her expression remains neutral.

“And you haven’t taken your rings off yet?”

Jess looks way too amused now and Lena’s beginning to rethink the promotion.

Lena glances down at said rings, and now she can’t help but smile as she thinks about Kara and everything that’s changed this week.

“Should I ask about the flowers that Kara brought over earlier?”

That’s what Lena thought Jess was originally inquiring about.

They’re sitting on her desk, halfway between the two woman, and there’s really no point in denying anything as a blush spreads across Lena’s cheeks, giving her away completely.

“She asked me out on a date, if you must know,” Lena says, deciding not to mention the fact that it’d actually been last night that Kara had asked her out, Jess doesn’t need to know that.

Jess’s small smile turns full blown and she looks positively ecstatic about the news.

“It’s about time.” Lena raises an eyebrow at her and Jess seems to remember that she’s still talking to her boss. She school her expression for all of two seconds before she’s grinning again. “I’m really happy for you.”

Lena blushes again. “Thank you.”

Jess gives her a warm smile and she’s glad, yet again, that this is the woman she’d hired as her secretary. “Was there anything else, Miss Luthor?”

Lena smiles at her. “That’ll be all, Jess, thank you.”

xxx

By the time 7pm finally rolls around, Lena finds herself nervously standing outside Kara’s door. But she’s also excited, she can’t wait to see what Kara has planned for them.

Kara had messaged her earlier, told her to wear something comfortable, which rules out a fancy restaurant for their date, which she’s glad about. Not that she doesn’t want to have a nice dinner out with Kara, and she knows they will at some point, but tonight, she wants something a bit more low-key and just for them.

Lena stopped off at her apartment to get changed before their date and found that Kara had dropped off her stuff from their time away. After seeing the clothes, she couldn’t help but grab one of the plaid shirts she’d taken, remembering Kara’s smile when she’d worn it on their first day together. She chooses a pair of her own jeans too and hopes that fits in with Kara’s request for comfortable clothing.

A wave of pure joy washes through her as she raises her hand and knocks, she can’t believe this is finally happening.

The door opens a few long seconds later and Lena’s breath catches as Kara steps into view, light from her apartment flickering softly behind her.

“Kara,” Lena breathes, not knowing where to look, caught between admiring Kara, and looking at the dozens of candles behind her.

Honestly, with the amount of candles Lena can see, she’d be worried about a risk of fire, if not for the fact that Kara would be able to stop a fire before it even starts.

“Hey,” Kara says softly, and the apartment is completely forgotten as Lena’s focuses solely on Kara. Kara’s lips are pulled up into a small smile, her eyes gentle, and crinkled at the sides. She’s wearing an incredibly soft looking blue cardigan, her hair falling in gentle curls on her shoulders.

Lena’s fingers itch to reach out, to tangle in that sweater and see if it’s as soft as it looks, itch to twirl around those curls, itch to stroke the skin across her cheek and to just hold Kara close.

“Hey,” Lena smiles back, unable to say more as she just takes in the woman in front of her, knows she’s very lucky to have Kara in her life as she does.

“Come in,” Kara says, after a long moment, the words breaking the small staring contest they’d begun to have.

The words also bring Lena back to the sight she’d seen over Kara’s shoulder as she’d opened the door.

“This is beautiful,” Lena says, voice full of awe as she takes in the apartment as a whole.

There are candles, everywhere, which she knew already, but it’s ever more impressive as she steps inside. They litter almost every surface, casting the room in a warm glow that mirrors the feelings in Lena’s heart.

But it’s the middle of the room that really takes Lena’s breath away.

Lena had ruled out a romantic dinner at a restaurant, but it looks like Kara has planned a romantic dinner here, just for them.

There are more candles of course, but just a few, in the middle of Kara’s table, a bunch of flowers sitting by their side. She’s set the table beautifully, plates, cutlery and glasses set out for both and Lena smiles at the effort Kara’s gone to.

“I hope this isn’t too much,” Kara says, and Lena looks back to find her looking nervous.

Lena shakes her head. “It’s perfect.”

Kara reaches out, snags Lena’s hand, pulls her closer. “I wanted to show you how serious I am about this. It wasn’t just a spur of the moment thing, I want this, us.” Teeth dig into her bottom lip. “I have for a while.”

Lena gives their joined hands a squeeze as her heart skips in her chest. “I know, me too.” She pauses. “Can I ask you something?” At Kara’s nod, she continues. “Why now? Was it this past week?”

“Come on,” Kara says, gently pulling on Lena’s hand again. “Let’s talk before we have dinner.”

Kara leads her across the room, passed the table and over to the couch. She spies her painting on the wall but says nothing as they take a seat, settle close together. Kara’s hand is warm in hers as she waits for her to start.

“It was partly this week,” Kara begins, looking down at their joined hands. Lena strokes her thumb lighting over Kara’s hand and Kara looks up with a smile. “I feel like we became so much closer while we were away and I didn’t want that to change now that we’re back. I talked with Alex last night and it was partly that too. I told her about everything that happened, everything we did together.” Kara pauses, gives her another smile. “I told her about my feelings for you, which she already knew, but that’s beside the point.”

“If it helps,” Lena cuts in. “Everyone else seemed to know about my feelings for you too. I can only assume that’s why Winn set us up as a married couple in the first place.”

“I think we’re both to blame for that. Apparently they took bets on whether or not something was going to happen between us while we were away.”

Lena blushes. “Who’s they?”

“Alex, Maggie and Winn.”

Lena cringes at the thought of them, all sitting around, talking about how apparently oblivious they’ve both been.

“Who won?”

Kara pauses, brow scrunching and her embarrassment is momentarily forgotten as she remembers why she’s here, and just how utterly adorable the woman sitting in front of her is.

“I don’t know, I forgot to ask.”

Lena laughs and Kara’s beautiful smile returns.

“She told me I should talk to you, tell you how I feel. But even then I wasn’t sure if I was going to, I didn’t want to risk our friendship in case she was wrong.”

Lena gives Kara’s hand a squeeze. “She wasn’t.”

Kara bites her lip, eyes so light, and she looks just so damn happy that it fills Lena’s heart. “I’m glad.”

“What changed your mind then? Made you ask me out?”

“It was last night,” Kara starts slowly, her eyes back on their joined hands. “We were together and it felt so good, but I knew it couldn’t last, not if we were just friends. There’d come a point where we’d have to step back, or you’d meet someone new and it’d be someone else being held by you, and I didn’t like the thought of either of those things. I didn’t want what we had to end and I was just thinking about you and the words slipped out.”

Lena uses her free hand to cross the small distance between them. With a small nudge under Kara’s chin, they’re eye to eye again. “I’m glad they did. I’ve spent so long telling myself that we’re just friends, that you’d never return my feelings, and I can’t even explain to you how happy I am to be wrong.”

“I’m pretty sure I know a thing or two about being happy right now.”

Kara’s grin is infectious and Lena can’t help but grin too as she shifts her hand from under Kara’s chin, her fingers gliding along Kara’s jaw to settle on her cheek.

Kara is so soft, so warm, and she never wants to move.

Kara brings her own free hand up to bracket Lena’s, holds it in place while she turns and presses a kiss to Lena’s open palm

Lena wants to stay in this moment forever.

Kara removes the hand that’s on her cheek and Lena’s worried she’s done something wrong as Kara releases her other hand, but is confused when Kara moves to cradle her left hand between both of hers.

“We need to do something about these,” Kara says, running her thumb softly over the rings on her finger that Lena still hasn’t managed to take off.

She sees that Kara hasn’t either.

“Jess mentioned them today, wondered if we were married.”

Kara laughs. “Well, we _sort of_ were.”

“Darling, I don’t think we were.”

“I like it when you call me that.”

Lena smiles. “That’s good to know.”

Kara rubs her thumb over the rings again. “That doesn’t answer the question of what to do about these.”

“We can’t continue wearing them, if Jess noticed them, no doubt others will too.”

“Emily, from CatCo, saw mine today. She asked where I’d been on my honeymoon. I just stammered before I laughed and walked away.”

Lena smiles again, something she knows she’ll continue to do a lot of in the future, that sounds just like Kara. “I didn’t want to take these off before,” Lena starts, her friend hand moving to play with her own rings. “It felt like if I did, it would mean this week was over, and we’d go back to being friends with no hope of anything happening between us in the future. Not that I don’t love being your friend, it just felt like we grew closer this week. Taking them off felt like the end of something.”

Kara gives her hand a squeeze.

“But it doesn’t feel like an end now,” Lena continues, slipping the rings off her fingers. “It feels like a beginning.”

“It is.” Kara slips the rings off her own finger. “It’s the beginning of something beautiful.”

The laugh bubbles out of Lena before she can stop it. “Sorry.” She laughs again. “But that was really cheesy.”

Kara shrugs with a grin. “Maybe, but it’s true.”

This time it’s Kara’s hand that reaches up, and Lena feels the touch burn a trail of warmth across her jaw as Kara settles her hand on her cheek.

She can’t help but lean into the contact, her eyes slipping closed against the warm weight of Kara’s hand.

“You’re beautiful,” Kara sighs, and Lena’s eyes are instantly open again as her cheeks flush red. “You’re also adorable when you blush.”

“Stop,” Lena says with a giggle, because dammit, this woman does things to her.

Kara’s hand drops from her cheek and she misses the warmth immediately.

“You also look very cute in this,” Kara says, her fingers running along the bottom of Lena’s shirt. “I think I’ve told you this before, but plaid is a very good look on you.”

Lena bites her lip, embarrassed once again. “Do you know what a good look on you is? That suit you wore to dinner at Penny’s. I definitely enjoyed that.”

Kara smirks. “I know, I could hear your heartbeat.”

“Oh, God,” Lena says, half groan, half laugh, as she tilts forward to press her forehead into Kara’s shoulder, so she can’t see her face. How many times has Kara been able to hear her racing heart?

Lena feels Kara’s hand on her cheek once again, lets her coax her head up until she can see Kara again.

Kara opens her mouth to say something, and especially at this close proximity, Lena can’t help but glance down at the pink lips so close to her own.

Whatever Kara was going to say, Lena never finds out, as suddenly the lips Lena is staring at begin to move closer.

“Can I…” Kara asks, trailing off, voice soft, and Lena is powerless to do anything but nod.

Kara’s thumb gently brushes against her cheek and Lena’s eyes slip closed again, just moments before lips press ever so gently against hers.

Lena sighs into the feeling, presses closer as lips move over her own.

She’d been so stupid not to see this before, not to see that Kara returned her feelings, because if she had, they could’ve been doing this a lot sooner. They’ve wasted a lot of the time they’ve known each other not kissing, and Lena’s going to make up for that now.

She shifts closer, runs her tongue against Kara’s bottom lip and the noise that Kara makes in return goes straight through her.

Since she’d met Kara, something has been building between them.

It’s a love and friendship, a partnership, that warms Lena through as they kiss, solidifies that this is real, and it makes this the best first kiss Lena has ever had, fueled by strong feelings on both their parts.

In a flash, faster than Lena can fully comprehend, but that could just be because she’s a little dazed from their kiss, Lena finds Kara straddling her waist, warm thighs pressed over her lap.

“Kara,” Lena laughs against Kara’s lips, which hardly shifted, even with Kara’s movement.

“Too fast?” Kara asks, pulling away quickly, and Lena laughs again, not sure if Kara means her superspeed, or the speed at which they’re moving in this new thing between them.

“No,” Lena answers, because it doesn’t matter which one Kara means, the answer is the same. “I just thought we were going to have dinner tonight.”

Kara shakes her head, her nose brushing against Lena’s as she does. “I’d rather do this than have dinner.”

Lena’s heart flutters. “I never thought I’d see the day that Kara Danvers turns down food.”

Kara laughs, eyes bright and lips red from Lena’s lipstick. It’s a look Lena wants to keep in her mind forever. “Some things are better than food.”

“I love you.”

The words fall from Lena’s lips without her consent, which is almost fitting with the way Kara had asked her out. That’s not to say she doesn’t mean the words though, she’s never said anything so true in her entire life.

Kara’s smile is brilliant, hallowed by the soft glow of the candles around the room, and Lena’s glad that Kara is still straddling her lap, because with the way Kara’s hair falls around her face as she looks down, the way the light dances in her eyes and the soft smile on her lips, she’s sure she’s never seen anything so beautiful in her life.

Kara leans down, presses her forehead against hers. Lena can feel Kara’s breathe against her lips as she talks.

Its feels intimate, and of course it is, Kara has her pressed into the couch, their bodies slotting together like they were made to, but it’s the gentle way that Kara speaks the words, just for her, that makes the moment perfect.

“You have no idea how long I’ve wanted to hear you say those words, for them to mean how I meant them in return.”

Kara pulls away, so she can look at Lena as she says the words. “I love you too.” She picks up one of the hands Lena has resting on her thighs, pressing a kiss to the palm like she had before. “I love you so much. And I thank Rao every day that he sent me to you.”

Tears prick at Lena’s eyes, the emotions overwhelming her.

“No, don’t cry,” Kara says with a gentle laugh, wiping a tear from Lena’s cheek just as it spills. “Don’t cry or I’ll cry too.”

“Sorry,” Lena says with a laugh of her own. “I’m just really happy.”

Kara grins. “Me too.”

They stay like that for a moment, the warm weight of Kara still in her lap as they sit pressed together, the feeling entirely new, yet familiar, at the same time. It’s comfortable, something she’s not sure she’s ever truly felt with someone else before.

All she can feel is Kara and it’s amazing.

Kara’s stomach growls and it breaks the moment.

“Sorry,” Kara says with a sheepish smile.

“Come on,” Lena says, poking Kara in the stomach, causing another laugh. “Let’s get you fed.”

Dinner is just the same as it’s always been between them, filled with easy conversation and soft smiles and it finally settles in Lena’s heart that this is real, that this is really happening.

They retreat back to the couch after dessert, which happens to be leftovers from their baking that Lena is entirely surprised that Kara hasn’t finished yet. Apparently Kara couldn’t finish it without her.

“You’re not going to leave tonight, are you?” Kara asks, voice soft as her head rests gently on Lena’s shoulder.

“Are you going to kick me out?” Lena asks, threading their fingers together.

“Never.”

“Well then I’ll stay.”

“Good.” Kara tucks her legs up under her, her knees pressing against Lena’s thighs as she leans closer. “Because I particularly like cuddling you.”

“Really?” Lena asks with a laugh, playfully nudging Kara’s side. “I hadn’t noticed.”

“Or we can stay at your place if you’d prefer?”

“Here is fine. Are you getting sleepy?”

Kara tilts her head up and Lena turns her head to the side so she can look at her properly. “Nope, I was just thinking about how much I’ve enjoyed tonight and how I didn’t want it to end.” She grins. “And if we have a sleepover, it won’t.”

Lena raises her eyebrow in a teasing manner, she just can’t help it.

Kara’s cheeks go pink and it’s exactly the reaction Lena was hoping to get. “Not like that.” Kara winks. “Not yet, anyway.”

And now Lena’s the one who’s flustered and she’s wholly aware that Kara can hear just how fast her heart is beating as thoughts of a more… _physical_ future enter her mind.

Who knew Kara was such a flirt too.

She’s going to thoroughly enjoy learning all these new things about Kara.

Like the fact that Kara’s bed smells just like her, and Lena can’t help but press her face into the pillow and inhale. And then Kara climbs into bed beside her and Lena presses her face into Kara’s neck instead.

Like the next time Lena wears the Supergirl onesie, Kara tells her just how much it means to her to have Lena wearing her family crest. And then the next day, Kara turns up with a locket with the crest inside, and now Lena always wears it close to her heart.

There are all the small things she continues to find out about Kara when they move in together.

Like the fact that the plaid shirt that she’d worn on their first date (that had gone missing about a month into their relationship) was actually hidden amongst Kara’s clothes, and she’d wear it when Lena was away on business.

And how much Kara actually does want a dog and that’s when they adopt Holly together.

Or all the embarrassing high school photos that Kara had thought she’d hidden well, but came out during the move.

She finds out about the Kryptonian custom of bracelets being exchanged at a wedding, so after Lena proposes (by taking Kara on a picnic), she gives Kara one she’d had custom made.

She’s never seen the look on Kara’s face before, as she walks down the aisle towards the love of her life, and it’s just another thing she learns and loves about Kara.

It’s all the little things, and the big things, and everything in between.

It’s a life they’re building together, as they fall in love more and more each day.

It’s the whispered words, shouted proclamations, soft touches, and all the love they give each other.

It’s everything they have together, and everything the future will bring. It’s a relationship, a wedding, a marriage, a _family_.

It’s a life together and the knowledge that they’ll both be there for each other, no matter what.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'd love to hear your thoughts :)
> 
> I don't plan to write anything this big in the near future, but I will continue my current sanvers fic (a bend it like beckham au if you're interested) as well as continue writing supercorp oneshots, so feel free to send me prompts.
> 
> Tumblr: spaceman-earthgirl


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